


Suffering in Silence

by Bellovesus



Category: The Gifted (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-16 22:54:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15447645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellovesus/pseuds/Bellovesus
Summary: Andy Strucker ruminates on his choice to leave his family and the Mutant Underground for the Hellfire Club.





	1. 1

Two SUV's drove on the country roads of Tennessee to the unknown Hellfire Club safehouse. They carried five new recruits for the cause. Five new soldiers for the mutant resistance against hegemony of humanity. The youngest member of the group gazed numbly out of the side window. As strongly as he believed himself to be in the right for joining the Hellfire Club, he still felt the crushing guilt weighing him down. He remembered the hurt looks on the faces of his family. Andy knew he was going to have this eating away at him for a long time.

After nearly two hours on the road, the group finally arrived at the location. The safehouse was a stately home which Andy guessed was somewhere between five hundred to eight hundred grand. He eyed the property as he stepped from the SUV which one of the Frost triplets (he had no idea if she was Esme or the other two). The cute, blue-eyed blonde beamed her smile at the fifteen year old. 

"Nine hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars."

Andy blinked. "Huh?"

"I didn't need to read your mind to know you were thinking how much this place costs," the Frost triplet told him, still smiling. Polaris, green-haired, ivory-skinned and slender, clapped an affectionate hand on Andy's arm. She exchanged a look with the Frost which basically told her to leave off Andy.

One of her siblings unlocked the door to let in the new recruits. Fade, Mark, Sage and Andy were each shown to their rooms. It was Polaris who brought him there.

"There's a shower for you to use in there," Polaris nodded toward the door to the bathroom. And there's fresh clothes in the wardrobe for you."

"It's already pretty late, so you might as well hit the hay." Polaris told Andy. She was looking pretty tired herself, and leaning against the door. "We're going to have a little briefing tomorrow, then we'll be heading to the H.C.'s main office."

Andy was removing his hand-me-down flannel shirt. "The main office? Where's that?"

"D.C." Polaris murmured. "They have a chartered flight waiting for us in the morning." She patted him on the shoulder. 

As Polaris turned to leave, Andy stammered. "Hey, we....we did the right thing, didn't we?"

Polaris smiled gently. "Well, there's no point in having second thoughts now!"

Andy sighed. "Yeah...it's just I remember the way they looked at us when we left the Underground."

Polaris shrugged. "Sooner or later, they're gonna have to come to terms with it. We're fighting for all of them. For all of us!" She placed her arm around Andy's thin shoulders. "They just need to understand that we're not their enemies."

Andy nodded, looking down miserably. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. The boy looked drawn and tired. He had not slept in over a day. The killing of those Mutant Hounds and Sentinel Service cops was still fresh in his mind.

"Hey look," Polaris spoke in a soft voice. "It's okay to have doubts, you know? All it means is that you really do care that we're doing the right thing." Polaris leaned in to kiss Andy tenderly on the forehead. She then left the youngster alone with his thoughts.

Andy undressed before entering the shower. He hadn't showered in a couple of months. Not since he had ruined his family's lives, he thought bitterly to himself. Hot water had been scarce at the Mutant Underground. 

Andy leaned against the smooth wall tiles as the hot water cascaded over him. He turned up the thermostat on the shower unit. Andy remembered that fateful night in the locker room at the school dance. He never cared about social events. Never cared about school. But his loneliness and isolation had gotten the better of him, so he snuck out of the house with Lauren's help to go to the school dance. 

Trevor. That smug-smiling jock asshole who was two years above Andy. Trevor, who made it his business to torment and humiliate him for the past year and a half. He had spotted Andy in the assembly hall with a couple of his douchebag butt-buddies whose names Andy could never remember, nor cared to. Trevor and his boys had quickly grabbed Andy, dragged him into the locker rooms where they roughed him up some, then hosed him down beneath the shower faucets. Before that moment neither they nor Andy knew that he was some "mutie". But holding him beneath scalding hot water was a neat little revelation for all of them. It scared Andy out of his mind, though. He went from feeling helpless from the bullies to being helpless at the raw energy pumping out of his body and wrecking the school. Andy felt like he was being ripped apart by an endless explosion. He did not know if he would stopped if his older sister Lauren had not found him in time. 

Lauren. 

The memory of her tears when he left her brought tears to Andy's own eyes. He remembered the look of reproach on his father, Reed's face, when Andy had violently pulled away from his attempt to stop him, which inadvertently cause a tremor, which knocked Caitlyn, Andy's mother off her feet. He recalled the look of hurt and surprise on his mother's face. Andy was truly remorseful for what happened, but the look of betrayal on the faces of everyone in the Mutant Underground burned in Andy's mind like a hot pincer. He slid to the floor above the shower drain. The searing hot water pounding upon him mixed with the boy's burning tears. It did not matter that he knew that running and hiding was not going to save the Mutants from the authorities, Andy felt like the scum of the Earth and he did not know if he could ever be accepted by his own family again.

Crouching down under the burning torrent, Andy Strucker cried his heart out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy meets Reeva Payge of the Hellfire Club.

The new recruits were flown to Washington, D.C. to be received at the Hellfire Club's HQ. It was the first time he had been there since the school field trip in 7th grade. Everyone was dressed in business suits for their first meeting with the Hellfire Club's top brass. Andy wore a cream white shirt and blue tie with an immaculate grey suit and trousers which seemed like they were tailored just for him.

Led by the Frost Sisters, the group entered through the pristine foyer of the building and were took the elevator to the main offices.

Andy sat with Lorna, Mark and Fade in the lounge area. Sage, the tall brunette software tech expert who could control computers and access databases with her mind, was the first to be asked for an interview in the H.C. boardroom by the Frost Sisters. 

The interview with Sage went on for forty minutes. After Sage was released, Fade, the lanky, long-haired Cajun who could turn invisible, was himself interviewed for the same amount of time. Then Mark, the massive-framed, bald-headed powerhouse who was as strong as Thunderbird at the Mutant Underground, was called into the boardroom.

Polaris had nodded off at some point after their arrival. Andy, feeling tired himself, was very close to doing the same, but then Polaris yawned and opened her eyes. 

"What time is it?" Polaris asked Andy.

The boy glanced at the clock on the wall. "Just five minutes after three."

"Jesus!" Polaris murmured. "Who's in there now?"

"Mark! He's been in there for about twenty minutes now."

Polaris tucked her feet up on the couch. "They'll be asking for you next," Polaris told the boy, somewhat redundantly. "It's just a procedure, you'll do okay."

"Sure," Andy replied numbly.

Polaris flicked her pale grey-green eyes in Andy's direction. "Hey, don't sound so glum. These Triplets are thrilled to have you."

"I'm okay," told her as he was fiddling with his tie. 

Polaris smirked. "You sound like you're going to face a firing squad. You need to take it easy. Imagine them naked or whatever."

Andy chuckled. "If I did that, the Triplets will know in an instant."

"Don't tell me you haven't imagined them naked. Drop dead gorgeous women like them."

Andy gave a shrug. "Honestly, I had two much on my mind without thinking about girls and stuff."

"No one would blame you. You're just a kid." She paused. "But don't go imagining me naked or anything."

Andy grinned. "Too late!" He told Polaris. "You just said it. You're in my head now."

They both laughed. Polaris prodded Andy playfully in the ribs. "Well now, you'll have to imagine me with a big-ass baby bump. Deal with that, Strucker!"

Soon, Mark was done with the interview. Esme (at least Andy thought so) emerged from the boardroom behind the big guy, a petite figure all but obscured by Mark's towering, hulking mass. 

"Andy, can you come in please?" She asked him pleasantly with an eager smile.

Andy gingerly arose from the couch. Polaris lightly tapped his leg. "Brave face, kiddo!"

The Frost Triplet, who was indeed Esme, held the door open for Andy as he entered the boardroom. Seated between the other two Frosts was an elegant, dark-skinned woman of around thirty. She stood from her desk.

"Ah, Andrew Strucker!" She held out her hand. "Oh...do you prefer Andrew Von Strucker?"

Andy shook her hand. "Just Andy, thanks!" He told her dry-mouthed.

"Well, I'm Reeva, Reeva Payge," she told him affably. "And I've been particularly looking forward to meeting you." 

Reeva gestured Andy to sit across the table from her. Esme took the seat next to Andy.

"So, Andy, I read about the fracas that happened at your school in Atlanta. Bell Vue High School, yes?" Andy nodded.

"Well," Reeva continued, "a tremor you produced at the school caused thousands of dollars of damaged. The roof in the assembly hall collapsed in several places. And I understand several students spent the night in hospital for minor injuries."

Andy felt a surge of guilt pass through him. "I-I didn't know that would happen, though."

Reeva mde a placatory gesture. "Understandable. One never knows they're mutants until something happens." Reeva clicked a button on her laptop to open up a document. "Perhaps it may interest you to know that one of the kids who bullied you - Trevor Maxwell - is actually identified as a member of the Purefiers in Atlanta. Apparently, he's been quite enthusiastic about the cause he's joined."

It took all of Andy's willpower not to send a tremor through the building. Trevor was such a piece of shit. As if reading the boy's mind, the three Frost Sisters gave Andy a knowing smile.

Reeva shrugged. "For now, though," she continued. "There are way bigger fish to fry for us than those yahoos. We have all the time we need to grind those maggots underfoot.

Reeva then clicked on to another document. "So, Andy. I've also been reviewing your school performance. It appears your grades have been slipping for a good while."

Andy blinked. "Um, why are we talking about school?"

It was one of the other Frosts who answered. "Well, the Hellfire Club expects its operatives to possess a certain competence. Certain leadership qualities. And if we're leading the fight for Mutant liberation, then this should be reflected in more character than our more superhuman abilities as Mutants."

"Your grade point average, especially for the last year-and-a-half, is well below that of your SAT score in junior high." Reeva added. "You were performing well beneath your potential. I expect that to change."

Jesus, thought Andy. Why do they care about his SAT's, or grades or school in general? "So...what? You want me in boarding school or something?"

Reeva gave a chuckle. "I don't think that's possible right now. Especially now. Besides, your raw kinetic abilities are much needed in the days ahead. You'll be assigned online courses, which you WILL complete on time. Am I clear."

Andy nodded sheepishly.

Reeva smiled. "Okay! There'll be a briefing tomorrow, about strategies for the week ahead." She stood from her chair. "Welcome to the Hellfire Club, Mister Strucker!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy is assigned his first mission by the Hellfire Club.

Andy was bored. He had been with the Hellfire Club for two weeks. Every couple of days, he would attend a briefing with other Mutants on potential targets by the group. Being fifteen, no one asked Andy what he thought, and worse yet, he did not feel he had anything worthwhile to contribute. 

Reeva Payge, as if sensing the boy's dismay, reminded Andy after the second meeting that his time would come. "You're here to learn as much as anything," she reassured him. "Anti-mutant protests are nothing. When we find out where their funding is coming from, I may have a task for you then. Keep practising and do your lessons."

So Andy did his online courses, as mind numbing as he found them. Every test seemed so contemptibly familiar to him that he felt like flunking them on purpose, like he sometimes did back in school. But the Hellfire Club had been pretty good to Andy, so he did not think it was right to show such ingratitude. He was eager to ace his tests if it meant rising in Reeva's esteem.

Reeva was pleased with Andy's educational progress, telling the boy he earned some A-plus's. "I'm glad your taking the tests seriously, Andy." Reeva told him in her office by the end of the first week. "Amazing, isn't it, how far a little effort can carry you? Makes me wonder what it was that was causing you to mess up in school."

Andy shrugged. "Maybe I'm not as good with schoolwork."

Reeva shook her head gently. "The results speak for themselves. Plus, I've read your SAT record from junior high. You weren't going to do a hundred percent unless there was something at stake. Why would even say that, anyway?"

Andy looked down. "It just seemed, y'know, easy. Too easy, even."

Reeva sighed. "So you were flunking school because it was 'too easy'?" She shrugged. "Well, I've read about Impostor Syndrome, but I've never seen it in action till now."

Andy cringed inside. He did not like it when someone was pumping up his head like that. He had gotten enough of that from his parents. "Isn't it enough that I can wreck stuff."

"Well, Andy, you might be content with the idea of just being dumb muscle, but you must know that your great-grandfather did more for this organisation than wreckings things. And you, Andrew Strucker, have some big shoes to fill. You have a brain in that head of yours. I suggest you accustom yourself to using it."

Later, Andy was with Polaris in an underground storage facility which had been renovated to serve as a training area for high-powered Mutants. Polaris was tearing ripping up and malforming some very antiquated car parts and and computer equipment. Andy was using his telekinesis to pound a massive pile of cinder blocks to dust, which came to be too much for Polaris as she was coughing from it. Both of them laughed as Andy led the older woman up the stairs for fresh air.

"Of course, Reeva's going to be up in your business," Polaris was telling Andy as they were lounging outside. "Mine too! We're both descended from some powerful H.C. alumni. we just gotta roll with it."

"I don't even what I'm supposed to add in these meetings we have with us," complained Andy.

"You're on a learning curve. No one holds that against you." Polaris told him patiently. "When I started with Underground, I often felt out of my depth. I was in this psychiatric ward when this women, Evangeline Whedon offered me a job. I thought back then that it was better than being locked in a room all day because the staff were afraid of the crazy, green-haired mutie bitch." She laughed. "But anyway, I got to do some amazing things I thought I'd never do. You're like me, Andy. You'll surprise yourself."

One night, Andy had been called to attend an impromptu meeting in the boardroom. 

"There's a Purifier safehouse found near Interstate 495," Reeva told the assembled group, which included Andy, Polaris, the Frost Sisters, Sage and a host of other mutants who Andy only met after the first week at H.C. HQ. Fade and Mark were apparently on "reconnaissance". Perhaps it was the invisible Fade whom supplied them the information for this meeting, Andy thought.

"I'm told that there are some eighty people at this location. It's very close to home, so it will provide us with some convenient exercise for those of you with limited combat experience." Reeva didn't look at Andy, but he knew all too well she meant him. He curbed his excitement.

"I need all of us to get ready and meet in the car park in ten minutes," Reeva told the group.

The drive to the location took nearly forty minutes. It was at some old, rundown-looking warehouse outside the city of Washington.

Andy followed Polaris, Reeva and Esme out of the SUV. They met with Fade, who apparently re-materialised against some trashcans across the thoroughfare from the warehouse. 

"You have everyone in place, yeah?" The lanky, hard-eyed Cajun asked Reeva.

She nodded. "I have everyone forming their own little roadblocks around this building. Unless these people have dug out some tunnels for themselves, they're not getting out!"

Fade snorted with laughter. "These bitches ain't got tunnels. I've checked."

"Where's Mark?" Andy pipped in. 

Fade nodded his head towards the warehouse. "In there. He's pretending to be a Purifier. Speaking of which.." Fade took out his phone and texted a quick message to Mark in the warehouse. "Earplugs, it's on!" read the text.

"All of you, cover your ears!" Reeva ordered the group. She then strode forward and screamed. Such was the force of Reeva's scream, that the glass of the windows shattered as though a huge wrecking ball smashed the panels inward. Car alarms started sounding from the the vehicles that were in the path of Reeva's assault. 

Less than a minute later, people started to emerge from the main entrance. They staggered out of the building. Some of them, revealed by the overhead streetlights, had blood pouring out of their ears. Andy, who had pretty sharp eyesight, flinched when he saw it.

"Polaris," Reeva asked quietly. "The gates, please."

With a dismissive, upward swing of her forearm, Polaris used her magnetic powers to shut the huge metal gates outside of the compound. 

Reeva led the group up a concrete stairway running alongside the wall enclosing the car park of the warehouse. Everyone one of the Purifiers flooding out of the building were very disorientated. 

Andy spied a huge, bald-headed bull of a man walking briskly from the main entrance of the building with a smaller man in tow. It was Mark, the huge Mutant strongman whom Andy once intimidated that one time back at the Mutant Underground. 

Mark, earplugs still in his ears, forcefully dragged a middle-aged man in a black leather trench coat by his side. "He's your guy, right here!" The giant barked with a savage grin.

"Are you with these motherfuckers?" The man croaked incredulously. "Fuckin' son of a bitch!"

Smiling contemptuously, Mark took the man in both hands and physically threw him over the wall like a rag doll toward his comrades.

The man landed with a hard thud at the feet of the Mutants. Reeva smiled thinly at the lead Purifier. "Terence Bristow," she pronounced his name while looking at the human like he was some dog mess she had stepped her expensive shoes in. "My people tell me you'be been smuggling cash and guns around to other Purifier cells around the country."

"That's right!" Fade hissed as he squatted down over Bristow. "This sumbitch has some interesting shit on his hard drive. Ain't yer, hoss!"

Mark, still in the car park below, lifted up a laptop, which one of the Frost girls took from him. Switching on, they found videos of young mutants, male and female, who were collared and tied to beds. Mark climbed over the wall, agile for his size, while the others watched the video's on Bristow's laptop.

Andy felt sick as he looked over Polaris' shoulder and saw Purifiers raping these kids in the videos.

Reeva turned it off. "This," she announced in a stone cold voice, "is what we have to fight against. All the time!" Reeva turned to look at Andy. "Are you ready to fight for your people?" She asked the boy with a quiet authority in her voice.

Andy glanced down at Terence Bristow, who spat out a glob of blood from his lips, staring defiantly up at Andy as he did. Andy stared back at him with pure loathing. He flicked his eyes back at Reeva. He slowly nodded his head.

Reeva pointed towards the warehouse. "Tear it down!" She ordered him.

Andy paused for a second, glanced back at Bristow for an instant. The boy then spreadout his hands toward the building. He felt the surge of energy slowly build up deep inside his body before invisible tendrils flooded out and exerted their force on the structure of the warehouse. The earth shook beneath their feet. Cracks appeared and grew larger before masonry and metal frames twisted and were rendered asunder. The Purifiers outside in the car park were all screaming in panic.

Andy continued to visualise those Mutants he just saw on the laptop and he used it to feed his rage, which fuelled his powers. Within a moment, the warehouse collapsed into itself, burying thousands of dollars in cash and equipment. A cloud of concrete dusted drifted from the wreckage.

Smiling fiercely, she beamed with pride at Andy, before switching her gaze towards Mark and Fade. "Put him in the trunk," she told them, nodding towards Bristow. They dragged the bloodied Purifier to the SUV. 

The other Purifiers, recovering their senses, started to surge toward the gate to escape the wrath of the Hellfire Club. Andy looking down on them with burning hatred in his eyes, thrust out his hands and sent a shockwave which knocked many of them to the ground. Reeva, Esme and her sisters had cruel smiles on their faces. Polaris' face was twisted in disgust for the Purifiers. 

"Let us finish this and we'll call it a night."

Polaris dragged several of the vehicles in the car park to smash into the bodies of the Purifiers. Andy sent one shock wave after the next to trip and knock them to the ground. The Frosts, Esme, Phoebe and Sophia used their overwhelming suggestive telepathy to send the Purifiers into a deep, primal state of panic that they turned on each other. They started punching, kicking, biting and clawing at each other, now seemingly oblivious to the Mutants who were killing them.

Reeva was grinning broadly. Her blood lust was sated when the last of the Purifiers in the yard as screaming incoherently at the group. Andy, instead of knocking the man down, used his telekinesis to physically pull him apart. Muscle and bone came apart in an explosion of blood. Reeva and the Frost Sisters squealed with excitement. Polaris, though, went pale. She looked at Andy, who stared in silence at the destruction they had wrought together.

"Come on," Reeva laughed in high spirits. "Back to headquarters!"

They drove back to the city. Andy regretted nothing!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy Strucker is still trying to find his feet within the Hellfire Club, while at the same time coming to terms with sacrificing his own humanity for the organisation.

Andy was sitting alone in his high school cafeteria. He eyed Lauren several tables away from him. She was with her friends, apparently oblivious to his presence. 

In truth, it was as much Andy's doing as his sister's. Lauren was always the sociable one where Andy was shy and standoffish. He did not want to seem dependent on her social graces, so he voluntarily kept his distance from her. An attitude that had contributed to some friction between the siblings for years. 

Andy tried to make friends, but found it very hard to relate to people. When he was around a large group of people, it felt like the walls were closing in around him and the weird feeling that he was about to suffocate. He would often walk off for protracted periods, which caused a lot of friendships to turn sour. 

Andy did not wish to come across that way, but some people resented him for appearing to be snooty and thinking himself too good for their company. It killed him inside to have others seeing him like that. More so than some others who thought of him as just slow and awkward. Nonetheless, those sorts of people proved to be more cruel than the kids who just did not have time for Andy. Kids who were rough with Andy during football practise to the point that he quit the team after the first month in senior high school. The sort of kids who would lean against the lockers while he went to open his and make their insane demands. 

Trevor Maxwell, a big hulking muscular kid who was in Lauren's grade, who was a hot college prospect in the athletics department. Trevor, who was allowed to act as an assistant-coach in football and wrestling for younger students. He was so popular and well liked that when he took a personal dislike to you, it was the death of your social life. 

Andy remembered the first week in his freshman year when he was sitting in the cafeteria beat boxing for the entertainment of some students. Some of the kids liked it. But a bunch of seniors started heckling him. 

"Where the fuck did this Justin Bieber wannabe come from?" Laughed Trevor.

"What a little faggot!" Laughed one of his buddies.

"Oh, ease off him," said another. "Little boy looks like he's gonna bawl."

Andy kept his composure, but his status in high school from that day forward had been cemented.

Andy got up from the table and stormed out into the hallway.

"Jesus, what a dick!" A woman's voice whispered from behind him. Andy found it oddly familiar. He turned around, but there was no one there.

"Quiet!" Said another female voice. "He might have heard you."

Andy kept walking towards the locker room. 

"You got to admit, the kid's a little messed up inside." The whisper came again. Andy tried to ignore it.

"Can't blame him," said another, "those assholes are cruel to him. Although, living among humans can't be very good for the boy's sanity."

Andy looked behind his back again. But this time, he was no longer in his old high school, he was inside the Mutant Underground Safehouse, a derelict boarding school on the outskirts of Atlanta. From the corner of his eye, Andy saw the strange-looking, bald-headed, onyx-skinned, blind in one eye Mutant named Shatter.

"Shatter?" Andy breathed. But Shatter seemed not to hear him. Andy reached out to grab Shatter's arm, but the boy's fingers grabbed nothing but air.

I'm not here, thought Andy.

Then, the Underground safehouse and its denizens vanished, and Andy found himself standing on the scorched waste ground where the same building once stood, after he and Lauren done their "Fenris" trick to destroy the building to cover the Underground's escape from the Sentinel Services taskforce. Andy had had no idea what was going on.

Unless, thought Andy, he was....

Andy woke in his bed in the private apartments at the Hellfire Club HQ. The boy sighed in relief. In the chair next to his bed sat Polaris. She saw Andy's raised eyebrow.

"You had some night terrors," she told him by way of an explanation. "Some folks were a bit grouchy about it."

Andy sat up and leaned back against the headstand. "Shit," he said simply. "Anyone get hurt?"

Polaris shook her head reassuringly. "Just some tremors through the building woke some of us up. Fortunately, there aren't any new reports of it in the area. She lifted her feet onto the chair. "Still, mind you, Phoebe and Sophia took some time to sort out your night terrors."

Andy thought for a second. "Those voices," He exclaimed. "That's who they were!"

Polaris chuckled. "I've damaged some of the furniture in my room last week. They did the same for me."

Andy gave a little laugh before pulling off the covers and rolling out of bed. He was dressed in nothing but boxer shorts. He stepped into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He thought about the Purifiers at the warehouse who he killed together with Polaris less than a week before. The rage was on Andy in that moment, but for days afterwards, Andy felt ill at ease with what he had done. The faces of some of the Purifiers were fresh in his mind. Andy thought he might talk about about it with someone. But he did not want to appear so weak and wretched in Polaris' eyes. So Andy thought of something else, if only to avoid broaching the subject.

"Are we the only ones," Andy called through the door as he was applying paste to his toothbrush." 

Polaris stepped into the bathroom. "Come again?"

"Like, is Fade sleep-walking while invisible? Or Sage sleep-networking? Or Mark throwing logs in his sleep, or whatever."

Polaris smirked. "None of that. Especially Fade, or at least I should hope not. Anyway, he's out and about renting hotel rooms. Or sleeping in his van, knowing him." Polaris sat on the side of the bathtub. "Mark, I assume, is a log while he sleeps. Sage, though, is a light sleeper. She takes a lot of power naps during the day, from what I've seen."

Andy spat into the sink. "I hope Phoebe and Sophie aren't pissed at me."

Polaris smiled thinly. "Eager beavers like them? Doubt it."

After Andy got dressed, he headed towards the elevator to practise in the underground facility. The elevator opened to reveal two of the blonde Frost Sisters.

Andy paused. "Phoebe and Sophia?" He asked uncertainly. 

They both glanced at each other before beaming smiles at him. "Good eyes." One of them, maybe Sophia, replied. Andy was fifty percent sure she was Sophia. She smiled a lot more than Phoebe did.

"I heard what you did for me, I...I hope I didn't, uh, waste your time or nothing."

The other Frost, maybe Phoebe, who had a more restrained demeanour than her sisters, tapped him gently on the arm. "Don't sweat it, Andy." She reassured him. "We're just glad your okay."

Andy nodded. "Okay, thanks. I'll, um, see you guys later!"  
\-------  
Andy came to the underground storage facility where another pile of cinder blocks and concrete slabs awaited him. Today, he wanted to do something a little different. He recalled hos his sister Lauren would use her shielding effect to funnel Andy's kinetic energy in a concentrated fashion.

Andy extended out his fingers and concentrated on sending out smaller pulses of energy toward the cinder blocks. Andy stood there for five minutes, straining. Sweat was pumping from his brow. He thought about those Purifiers he killed several days ago with Polaris. Finally, a small crack spread through one of the concrete blocks. 

Andy paused for a minute to catch his breath. He gazed at the concrete blocks. Almost as though he was giving the finger to them, Andy jabbed a furious finger in their direction. A small, half-inch hole was driven through the cinder block. Andy's eyes widened in amazement. He tried it again. And again.

Smiling to himself and drenched in sweat, Andy then had another idea. He started jabbing more holes in more specific places. Aligning them up, Andy drilled the face of a slavering wolf onto the pile of concrete.

Behind Andy, Reeva Payge stepped into the training area. She beheld the image of the wolf in front of her. "Quite the artist, huh?!"

Andy's head swivelled around. He suddenly looked embarrassed. "Aaah, yeah, sorry. Just, you know, trying out something new." He looked back at the wolf's face. "I kinda got carried away."

Reeva admired Andy's etching in the concrete. "'Something new', you say?"

Andy looked back. "Yeah. I was trying to reduce the amount of force I use with my powers. Lauren, my sister, would use her shields, her power to harden the air, to funnel mine on to specific targets."

"Okay!" Reeva replied, looking interested. 

"So, Lauren's not here, so I thought I could adapt my powers, so they might work like a cannon rather than a bomb.

Reeva smiled. "Smart thinking, Andy. I like it." She said in a genuine tone. 

Andy blushed. "So," he said, changing the subject, "do you have any more missions for us in the meantime.

Reeva shrugged ruefully. "Nothing as yet," she replied uncertainly. "Next week, though, no promises, but we might take a flight to Vancouver for a summit that's about to take place there. We have reason to believe that certain high-priority targets may be at the summit."

"What's the summit concerning," asked Andy.

"Repealing some Anti-Mutant laws in several countries, including Canada." Reeva looked from the wolf's face back at Andy. "If our intelligence proves right, certain VIP's might appear to derail the motion."

Andy wiped the sweat off his brow. "You think they'll show up though?"

Reeva shrugged. "It's like they expect us around every corner. If only we were so numerous!"

"I hope they make it," Andy stated while burrowing another hole through one of the concrete slabs.

"I wouldn't hold your breath, Andy." Reeva stated gently. "You wouldn't be required for this delicate mission."

Andy looked down at her with a touch of belligerence in his eyes. "Delicate mission, huh?! Requires subtlety, I guess!" He declared acidly. Bitterness brimming in his voice.

Reeva sighed. "Please don't be like that, Andy. You're still inexperienced. We won't even need Polaris for this, especially in her current condition. This is a job which requires computer hacking, a last minute phone call from a hotel room, planting narcotics in the right place and a tip-off to the police in Vancouver. Not destruction of Biblical proportions!"

Andy looked down at his feet, feeling embarrassed at his outburst. "Sorry!" He mumbled, sounding like a little boy who misbehaved.

Reeva clutched his arm. "You have lot of time to improve, Andy," Reeva told him soothingly. 'You have a lot to learn, Andy' was what it sounded like to his ears, but Andy thought better of voicing it.

"There's going to be dozens of opportunities down the road," Reeva continued. "For better or worse, we have plenty of enemies to face. And they won't die out fast enough before we deal with them." She patted his arm, silently hoping she did not come across as too patronising to the boy. "I will keep you posted, though. In case something new pops up, okay?"

Andy nodded sullenly. Reeva left the training area. 

Staring at the mound of cinder blocks, Andy remembered the screams of terror and the spilt blood of the Purifier group. They were scum, and yet Andy felt a sickening feeling every time he thought of them. Is this the new 'normal', thought Andy? He knew why he had to fight these battles, but the memory of the aftermath made feel hollow. Like he was slowly vanishing from the feet up. 

No, thought Andy! That was some weak shit! Guilt was a weakness, he decided to himself. And if Andy despised anything, it was weakness: weakness in others, and especially weakness in himself.

Andy checked his ungovernable rage, his self-loathing, channelled it, and summoned up a massive surge of energy before thrusting his hands forward, sending the terrifying shockwave to destroy the huge pile of concrete in front of him, with the wolf's face etching vanishing in a spray of dust, which swept back to engulf the fifteen year old. 

Smothered in sweat and concrete dust, and simmering with barely-restrained rage, Andy departed from the training area.  
\-----  
Andy took a shower before dinner. There was a canteen in the building, and he sat with Sage and Polaris. They discussed the Summit taking place in Vancouver.

"They come along every couple of years," Sage said while chewing a sandwich. "Nobody agrees on anything. Nothing ever comes of them."

"Who are these people that Reeva's expecting at the event?" Polaris asked.

"They're representatives of Humanity Today. Nobody special. Just corporate suits trying to pick up the pieces after Senator Montez kicked the bucket."

Polaris smiled thinly. Senator Matthew Montez died in the plane crash she caused a month before. Doctor Roderick Campbell, the head researcher at Trask Industries, was also on that plane with the senator. Andy told Polaris that Campbell was the one whom shot Dreamer at the facility. 

"Nothing special?" Andy interjected. "Reeva said they were 'VIP's'."

Sage shrugged. "VIP's at an event, sure. But next to political figures like the late Senator Montez, they're," she paused, "small fry," she finished. "Just some no-name corporate lawyers."

"So," pressed Polaris, "they're not worth the effort, then?" She asked Sage.

Sage bit into a sandwich before replying. "They're there to make a case against repealing some laws. It's a delaying tactic the Inner Circle have in mind, but it will tarnish the image of the Anti-Mutant cause to some degree in the public eye."

"Anything we can help with in that area?" Polaris probed.

Sage shrugged. "We've already got twenty grams of cocaine we need to plant on one of the targets. Fade and one of the Frosts are going to be tasked with the operation. All I have to do is the live feed for the event, but anyone can do that."

"I can do that." Andy offered. "Better than just twiddling my thumbs."

"Sure," Sage offered.  
\---  
Later that night, Andy drifted off to sleep. He remembered that night with the Purifiers. He heard the screams, saw the viscera of their torn and crushed bodies in the car park. Shattered born protruded from chests and broken limbs. The guy, the last man standing outside the warehouse who Andy ripped apart was looking at Andy with a pleading expression. Andy ripped the life out of his body.

Andy woke up with a start. The familiar feeling of queasiness returned. The same old suffocating sensation of the walls came closing in on Andy was there.

The boy fell out of bed. Crawling to his feet, Andy staggered into the bathroom. He stood over the bidet. The boy started swaying on the balls his bare feet, heaving. Resting his hands on his knees, Andy vomited into the toilet bowl below him. He spewed the contents of his stomach several times. Flushing the bidet, Andy went to the sink to wash out his mouth.

Someone knocked on the door of Andy's bedroom. "Just a minute!" He called with a mouth half full of vomit.

But Polaris did not wait for the boy to answer her. She let herself into the bedroom. She switched on the light. "Andy?" She called.

Andy emerged from the bathroom. "Oh god," he drawled. "I didn't cause another earthquake did I?"

Polaris, dressed in a pink bed robe and slippers, shook her head. "Um, no. I just thought...I dunno. I should check on you." She looked at Andy's pale, sweat-drench face. His lips slightly flecked with vomit. Polaris gestured to his lips.

Andy rubbed his lips. "Oh, shit," he hissed under his breath.

"You okay, kid?" Polaris him with genuine concern. 

Andy thought about the Purifiers again, but he struggled to spit it out. He started stammering.

Polaris looked tired. "I can come back later if..."

"Those people we killed," Andy finally blurted out. He regretted his decision before he even made it. "The....ummm..the fucking Purifiers!"

Polaris gazed at the boy. Andy placed his hands on his hips, looking down at his feet. "I know what they were," he whispered. "I know what they did, and that they would have done it again, and again. But they're..." Andy's voice started to crack. God, I'm such a weak little bitch, he thought to himself. "The things we did to them!" Andy finished. "I can't stop thinking about it!" His eyes stung and burned. He looked up at Polaris, bracing herself for the contempt he just knew she was going to have for him. 

But what he saw instead were the tears welling up in her eyes. Guilt was etched up the young woman's face. Andy might as well have been looking in the mirror. "I'm sorry," whispered Polaris. She stepped toward him and pulled the quivering young boy into her arms. Andy just collapsed into her embrace. The blood pumping in his ears deafened him to the sound of his breathless sobs. 

"I'm sorry," Andy sobbed. "Polaris, I'm sor..."

"Lorna!" She whispered fiercely, her own voice choking with tears. "I'm Lorna, just Lorna." She hugged Andy more tightly against herself. "And don't ever be sorry!" Lorna then place a kiss on Andy's head.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something goes awry at the Vancouver Summit.

Part of Andy regretted his earlier eagerness to monitor the live stream of the Anti-Mutant Summit in Vancouver. He knew he needed to pull his weight, pick up some skills and make himself indispensable in other areas than just coast off his gifts. He knew how use computers as well as any child of his generation would.

Sage, the techie-mutant, was across the room reviewing sensitive governmental docs that were being leaked to her from another server in the capital. Something she was able to do within nano-seconds by quickly glancing at the screen. Her memory was such that she only need to glance at an image or readout before it was permanently and entirely burned into her memory, coupled with her ability to manipulate software with her own specialised psychic ability that was geared for the task. With Andy doing the grunt work, she could skip out on a lot of her less vital work.

So Andy, bored out of his skull yet again, gazed at the monitor as the event unfolded before the cameras.

The phone rang next to Sage's desk. "Yeah," she murmured. "We're watching it now." Andy glanced briefly at Sage to see her reaction. "Okay," she replied simply. Sge put the phone down. 

"What did she say?" Andy asked.

"Esme and Fade are outside the hotel," Sage told him. "Security had been called to the room of one of the of Humanity Today reps.

"So it's mission accomplished, then?" Andy grinned.

Sage smiled back. "Well, let's just wait till we get all the facts.

Andy shrugged. He was hoping he might have been able to get off his voluntary vigil early.

Some twenty minutes later, the phone rang again. Sage answered, and Andy saw the look of dread on her face. Sage mouthed the words 'oh fuck' before dropping the phone back in its holster.

"What happened?" Andy asked Sage.

Her eyes flicked from the screen to Andy. "Esme says that no drugs were found in the room of the lawyer."

"They definitely planted drugs in the guy's personal affects?"

Sage nodded nervously. "Of course they did. Fade planted them. He's on his way to the summit now."

The operation had been blown. Within another twenty minutes, the lawyers representing Humanity Today at the Vancouver Summit made their case against the repeal of Anti-Mutant laws across the western world. They spoke of the attack on Humanity Today by the Mutant Underground nearly two months before, and the subsequent plane crash that killed Senator Matthew Montez shortly after. By the end of their presentation, the HT lawyers clearly had the sympathy of more than half the delegates present at the summit.

The phone rang a third time. Sage answered it. Her face went pale. "Yes, I'll tell them!" She replied. "Just hang in there."

"What now?" Andy asked, dreading the answer.

Sage dropped the phone. Her hands trembled. Esme, Reeva and Fade have been arrested."

Andy's eyes grew as large as saucers. "How did that happen?!"

"Don't know!" Sage was close to tears. "They've been identified and collared."

"Aren't Sophie and Phoebe there with them?"

"She didn't say," Sage replied. She looked up at Andy. "Reeva asked for you, though. She said you and Polaris need to get to Vancouver within twenty-four hours."

That took Andy's breath away.  
\-----  
Sage ordered a private jet for Lorna Dane and Andy to Vancouver.

"I would have thought that this was something she'd need to clear with the Inner Circle first," said Andy, talking about Reeva.

"A clusterfuck of this magnitude?" Posed Lorna. "I don't think Reeva wants to leave that decision in their hands." Lorna's belly was fairly-swelled, now that she was five months pregnant. She wasn't strictly required for the trip, but was needed to supervise Andy on the right course. Not that he minded.

Sage had already outlined the prison where Esme, Reeva and Fade were being detained in the city and gave them the address of a safehouse in Vancouver.

The flight from Washington DC to Vancouver took five and a half hours.

"Are you sure you don't want to head to the house first?" Andy asked Lorna.

"I'll be okay," Lorna reassured him. She drove them to the police station where their three confederates were being detained.

When they arrived outside the station, Lorna and Andy sat in the car, "Okay," said Lorna, "I'm going to fuck up their phone signals. That'll give you a chance to get past their cameras, since they'll be watching static for the next couple of minutes. You've memorised the layout of the building, so you have maybe ten minutes to find out what holding cells they're in."

Andy nodded. "I'll set off the fire alarm, and wait till everyone's outside."

Lorna nodded. "Good luck!"

Andy slipped out of the car and head into the building. Lorna dialled the number to for the precinct. When a women's voice responded to her call, Lorna raised her hand and used her magnetism to scramble the the signals around the police station.

Inside the lobby of the station, Andy saw the staff and civilians inside complain about the static interference from their phones. With all eyes off him, Andy entered through the door which cautioned staff only.

Andy snuck through the corridors. Andy looked into the men's restroom, found it empty. Then looked out the door of the restroom to see that no officers were present. Spotting the fire alarm, Andy covered up his hand inside his sleeve and punched the glass. The shrill sound of the fire alarm went off and Andy ducked inside the men's toilets. He kept close to the door to listen as the staff vacated the building.

One of the station's fire marshals checked the men's room, but Andy had hid in one of the stalls, standing on the toilet, while holding the door closed.

"Ah, fuck the ladies room too! I'm clocking out in ten minutes anyway," grumbled the fire marshal. When he left, Andy raced through the precinct. 

He ran to the detention cells, some of the prisoners would have been moved already, Andy knew from his conversation with Lorna on the flight to Vancouver.

"They'll move the prisoners into the car park in the event of a fire drill," Lorna told Andy. "Most police don't like dealing with Muties, though, so there's maybe a 70% chance that they'll just keep our people in confinement."

"I hope you're right," Andy said in reply, "or else I'm pissing into the wind trying to find them."

Lorna had smiled. "If the cops in Vancouver are anything like the ones I've dealt with, they'll be so skittish around our friends, they're gonna need an entire detail to accompany them when they take a shit."

Andy slid the opening panel to peer inside. Several such cells turned were vacated. Andy then decided to take a risk.

"Fade!" He called through the corridor. "Esme!" He shouted, "Reeva!"

Frantic banging on metal sounded thirty yards down the corridor from Andy. "Over here!" Came a man's hoarse voice. It was Fade.

Andy sprinted towards the source of the noise. "Step away from the door!" Andy shouted. With a single burst of energy, brickwork shattered as the door was shoved inward by Andy.

Coughing from the dust, Fade had flattened himself against the wall. Andy produced the key he was given by Sage that was designed for the mutant collars. He removed the collar from Fade's neck. 

The tall Mutant clapped Andy on the shoulder. "Sight for sore eyes, kid!" He grinned. 

The sound of screaming women's voices came from further down the corridor.

"That should be the others." Said Fade simply.

"How did they find you?" Andy quickly asked as he jogged over the cells.

"Long story," replied Fade tersely.

Andy then unlocked Reeva and Esme from their cells.

"That was hardly twenty-four hours," Esme stated in mock sternness. 

Andy laughed. "Thank Polaris for that. She kept us on a tight schedule.

"Glad to hear it." Reeva declared grandly.

Andy sent the text to Lorna "Got em". He pocketed the phone. "They're out the front entrance," the boy told them. "I thought we might head into the basement, and I'd break us into the sewer."

"Better than nothing," shrugged Esme.

Fade wrinkled his nose. "Nah, fuck that," he told them. "Stay close to me. They won't see us."

Reeva, Esme and Andy huddled around Fade, who was able to extend his cloaking field to encompass his companions. "Real close, guys," Fade hissed through his teeth as they walked through the front door.

"SUV's just on the left side of the road," Andy whispered.

"I see it," Fade grunted in reply.

Lorna beamed at Andy as he took the front passenger seat. "That was eight minutes and forty-six seconds," she announced.

Andy exhaled. "Felt like fucking forever, dude!"

Lorna grinned as she started the vehicle. "Let's get away from this commotion." She drove steadily through the streets, not bringing any attention to themselves.

Andy turned to Esme. "Hey, I forgot to ask about Sophia and Phoebe."

"They're okay, for now. They were taken by that group we were shadowing, but they've freed themselves."

"Humanity today caught them?" Andy asked her.

Reeva replied. "One of the lawyers, the one we were going to plant the drugs on. His name is Boniface Luttrell. He's actually a Mutant.

Lorna and Andy reacted in shock. "Really?" Lorna blurted out.

Reeva nodded. I've known about him for years, although I wasn't sure it was him until after we were arrested. He's masquerading as a lawyer called Timothy Sterling. Luttrell is a con artist . He has the power manipulate perceptions and can plant suggestions into your mind."

"Jedi mind bullshit, in other words." Fade guffawed. "He came at us as the police brought us down. Sonofabitch gloated at us while the pigs tasered us into submission.

"That asshole helped the cops capture us," Esme added bitterly. "Now, he's working in plain sight with Humanity Today."

Luttrell's hubris will be the death of him, I swear it!" Reeva muttered darkly.

"So, the mission's blown, huh?" Lorna asked sardonically.

"Caput!" Esme replied.  
\-----  
Lorna drove the group back to the airport.

"I told the pilot to refuel as we left," Lorna told everyone as they mounted the plane.

"Good call," replied Fade. "I fucking hate Vancouver."

On the flight back to Washington, Lorna, feeling jet lagged, curled up to sleep in the chair next to Andy. Fade helped himself to whiskey. "Fucking day I had," he grumbled. Esme lifted a glass waved it about meaningfully. "Sure, sweetheart." Fade filled her glass. 

Reeva was on her cellphone, whispering bitterly to one of the Inner Circle suits. Andy wondered aloud why he never met them yet.

"Because those old bastards are at their most potent when they can haunt the dreams of children," Esme told Andy scornfully. She then lightened her tone. "But you did great today." She said proudly.

Andy was dismissive. "Lorna kept us on track, I just followed her lead."

Esme shook her head as she smiled. "Come on, kid! You gotta take a compliment sometime. That was ballsy what you did.

"That's true!" Reeva interjected as she took a seat next to Esme. "Lorna gets credit, too. But you sneaked in like a master thief. I thought we were going to be shipped out in the morning." She helped herself to some vodka. Reeva then glanced back at Andy. "You've ever had a drink, before, Andy?"

The boy blinked. "Um, I'm not old enough," he replied lamely.

Reeva, Esme and Fade paused to stare at Andy. Then burst out laughing. They caused Lorna to stir in her sleep.

"Not old enough?" Esme was weak with laughter. Andy felt embarrassed. "You break into a police station to three enemies of the state, but you're not old enough to drink?"

Andy gazed at her reproachfully. Then, the boy snatched Reeva's bottle of vodka from her hand, surprising her by his action. "Whoah, there!" She protested. Andy pressed the bottle to his lips and chugged the clear, fiery liquid down his gullet. Swallowing, Andy then was hit by a body-wracking cough. The other Mutants grinned at him. 

"Okay, Andy, take it slowly now." Reeva told him as she prised the bottle from the boy's fingers and gently rubbed his back. She looked toward Fade. "Any brandy?"

Fade looked at his hasty collection of liquor. He raised a small bottle full of dark-brown liquid. "Armagnac," he grunted. "Start with the smooth stuff, son."

Andy took the offered bottle. "Smooth, you say?"

"Trying to ease you into it," Fade told him. "There's better first drinks than vodka. That stuffs the Devil's own swill."

Esme sniggered at Fade's words. Reeva just made a face at him. She loved her vodka. "Devil's swill...don't get me started on that French shit!"

Fade rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man. You just not had the good stuff."

"Oooh, do go on about the fabled 'good stuff'," Reeva mocked Fade.

The three encouraged Andy with drinking games on the flight back to D.C. He did not remember the rest of the night after that point.  
\----  
The sound of a girl sobbing quietly, her voiced muffled. The room was stark. Why was the sound of her voice familiar?

Blinding light. The smell of flesh burning in rapid, engulfing flames. It burned hotter than the sun. Then ashes and soot blowing in the wind.

Andy then took in his surroundings. It looked like he was in a fancy restaurant. People were talking around him, but he had difficulty keeping up with the words.

"Können wir jetzt gehen?" Andy looked at the pretty blonde woman who was sitting beside him at the table. He felt her toes brushing against his leg.

Andy opened his mouth to reply, but the words were not his own.

"In einem moment meine liebe."

Grinning like a schoolgirl, the young woman leaned against Andy and whispered in his ear. "Ich will ficken!" She whispered in a soft, loving voice.

It sounded German, Andy knew. But German wasn't really on the curriculum back in Bell Vue, so he could only guess what was being said. Andy had no control when he kissed the woman softly on the cheek. "Ich werde deine fotze verwüsten," the manly voice whispered in reply. The blonde girl giggled so sweetly in response to the strange words.

Andy's head pounded harshly as he opened his eyes. He sat up in his bed back at the Hellfire Club HQ in Washington. His mouth tasted of gin and vomit, and his belly felt sour. His body was drenched in sweat. 

Andy gingerly climbed from his bed and staggered to the bathroom. Standing over the sink, he leaned down to drink from the tap. Then, his memory of the events from the previous day came flooding back.

"Fuck me," Andy whispered to himself. Did that all happen?

He was about to get into the shower. He was pulling his sweat-drenched vest off when Lorna knocked on his bedroom door. "Andy?" She called.

Andy groggily opened the door.

Lorna took one look at him. "Yep, total lush!" She said disapprovingly.

Andy rubbed his face with both hands. He sighed. "Did I do something stupid last night?" He dreaded what she was about to say.

"Why, yes Andy. You got drunk!"

Andy sank on to his bed. "I don't know why I did it." He clutched the back of his head. It felt one of those cinder blocks he routinely destroyed in the training area. "They were heckling the shit out of me on the way back to D.C." Andy rubbed his eyes. "I did it - I don't know - to spite them i guess. Then I don't remember anything after that."

Lorna's face softened. "Well, you were barely conscious on the drive back. I would have thought those assholes would be more responsible around children."

Andy glanced up sharply at Lorna's words. "Don't look at me like that Andy," Lorna said tiredly. "We may be fugitives from the government, we've done..." she paused, "done horrific things to other people. "But you're still a kid. I respect that enough to look out for you. I care about you, and I fucked up even more by not staying alert.

Andy closed his eyes. "So, what are they saying about me out there?"

Lorna shrugged. "Well, they're thrilled about what you did for them. You've definitely gone up in their estimation."

He knew that he should have been happy to hear that, but Andy felt ill at ease. Was this the price of succeeding within the ranks of the Hellfire Club? "If I do more for them, they'll browbeat more liquor into me."

Lorna laughed. "Anyone else would love to be in your position. For what it's worth, you've earned your place." She smiled at him. "Go hit the shower, kid. And next time you celebrate, try not to be sick on my shoes, okay?"

Andy slapped his forehead. "Jesus, so that DID happen?"

Lorna chuckled to herself as she walked out of Andy's room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hellfire Club is on the hunt for a rogue mutant working for Humanity Today.

Phoebe and Sophia Frost returned to HQ. They arrived several days after the foiled mission in Vancouver.

"He had a whole team tracking us." Sophia told Reeva. "They were former Sentinel Services employees," Phoebe added. Since the assassination of Senator Matthew Montez and the failed mission to eliminate the Mutant Underground two months earlier, there had been some downsizing of Sentinel Services by the US government. There were talks of creating a more militarised organisation to combat the Mutant threat on human society. Now, former employees of Sentinel Services were now independently hunting Mutants. Others were seeking employment with wealthy members of Humanity Today as private militias.

Reeva pondered on the Frost Sisters' accounting of events. "I think Luttrell wants to make a bid for the organisation's leadership, now that Montez is dead," she stated darkly.

Lorna, Sage and Andy were present at the meeting. They had become key members of Reeva and the Frosts' own private circle outside the Inner Circle itself.

"I take it this Luttrell guy doesn't have a home address?" Lorna asked.

It was Sage who answered her. "He has no properties listed in his name, or even under his alias. He lives incognito.

"He's usually travelling across the globe, that much we know." Reeva added.

"Did he used to work for you," Andy asked suddenly. 

Reeva and the Frosts looked at Andy sharply. "How do you know that?" One of the Frosts, maybe Sophia, asked him.

Andy was taken aback. "I didn't," he said evenly. "I mean, he seems to know all about us and what we do. I just thought, on a limb, that he might have been with Hellfire way back."

Reeva paused before shrugging. "You're right," she confirmed. "Luttrell was once one of our assets." She leaned forward on the table. "As I mentioned before, Luttrell was a con artist before we met him. We scouted him and got him to work with us for a number of years. He wanted to rise in the organisation. But he was also secretly pilfering funds because it's really financial gain that drives Luttrell. He fled before we could confront him. That was three years ago."

"So, one of your old chickens has come home to roost." Lorna stated in a less than thrilled tone.

"None of us is pleased about having that oily jackass messing things up for us," Esme responded testily.

"Apparently, you were all pleased to hire a con artist into your ranks," Lorna muttered bitterly.

Andy looked between Lorna and the Frosts, feeling like a small boy watching his parents in a fierce argument.

"Um, didn't your boyfriend help smuggle drugs for the cartels?" Phoebe quipped at Lorna, referring to Marcos Diaz.

Lorna glared at Phoebe. "You need to shut your fucking..."

"Enough!" Shouted Reeva, stopping the bickering in its tracks. "Let's not lose sight of the issue here, people. Boniface Luttrell is loose in the country, and we need to find him before his next sabotage. Can we agree to that?"

Nobody argued with Reeva.  
\-----  
Andy and Lorna were in the training area. Instead of using concrete this time, Andy practised his powers on a decrepit 1989 Dodge Spirit. The battery had been removed and the engine voided of petrol, to prevent an explosion in the training area. Andy supposed it would have been suspicious to practice this outside the complex, potential witnesses, aerial drones and all that. Lorna scarcely bothered with her own training, but watched Andy instead. Whereas Lorna could have peeled the car apart with surgical precision due to her magnetic powers, for Andy, it was like trying to chop a brick with an axe; there was damage being wrought, but as yet only bits and pieces fell off the vehicle. Lorna had to resist the urge to laugh at poor Andy.

Andy scowled saw Lorna trying to contain her laughter. "It's like trying to snap a bundle of sticks in half," the boy complained. "Concrete and mortar are brittle. This fucker's been moulded and weld together."

"So then just strip off piece by piece."

Andy pointed to the huge, crumpled tear through the middle of the car. "I'm already a quarter of the way through it."

"We could be here all day," Lorna told him in a teasing manner.

"Whatever," Andy smirked. "Well, if you insist on doing this the hard way, hon?!" Andy rolled his eyes. He then put his whole energy into the car-wrecking. The tearing came slowly. Metal panels and piping warped under his pressure. Sweat poured around his body. 

After a couple of minutes, Lorna noticed that Andy's palms started to glow. "Andy?" She breathed fearfully.

Andy reacted to the burning sensation from his hands by swatting them in the direction of the car. Two, deep, charred holes were burned through the warped metal of the Dodge. Lorna and Andy looked at each other.

"Well shit!" Andy murmured.  
\-------  
Reeva called for another meeting that afternoon. "Sage has discovered that Boniface Luttrell has been helping to organising rallies in Philadelphia," she told the group. "He's promoting the campaign of Senator Lucille Keogh, who is now the new face of Humanity Today. Philadelphia is a three-hour drive away, so we have one chance to end this turncoat before he slithers away again."

"I'll go," Andy stated.

"So am i," Lorna added.

One of the Frost sisters smiled thinly. "I guess we're car pooling, then," she quipped.  
\--------  
It was around 4pm by the time the group drove to Philadelphia. Lorna, being five months pregnant, stayed with Reeva and Esme, while Phoebe and Sophia mingled with the crowd. Andy, dress in a dark hoody and jeans, did likewise. Moving through the crowd, Andy plugged in his earpiece to receive instructions from Esme. 

"You remember what he looks like from the photographs, Andy," Esme told him over the line, "so remember to take a snapshot when you catch him."

Andy sauntered through the jostling crowd. He looked toward the stage where Senator Lucille Keogh was addressing the crowd. He scanned the faces of her campaign managers. Then Andy's eyes rested on a slender, middle-aged man of middling height and short brown hair. And took a picture of the man in the crowd.

"Yeah," came Esme's reply. "That's him. Come back to the car Andy."

And rejoined Lorna and and Esme in the SUV. "Where's Reeva at," Andy wanted to know.

"She has a personal score to settle with Luttrell," Esme told him simply.

Then everything suddenly went wrong when gunfire caused the crowd to started screaming.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hellfire Club are caught out in the open with Humanity Today. Boniface Luttrell closes in on Reeva Payge. Andy Strucker and the Frost Sisters have only moments to save her.

The sound of gunfire reverberated across the square as police officer aimed their guns at random elements of the crowd.

Lorna, Esme and Andy got out of the SUV and ducked under the side of the vehicle. Lorna wore a woollen cap to conceal her green hair.

"Phoebe and Sophia say that Luttrell's withdrawn inside the shopping complex with Senator Keogh and her staff," said Esme, who was in telepathic communion with her sisters.

"Do they know where Reeva is?" Andy asked, who had to shout over the panicked screaming of the crowds.

"She's with my sisters," Esme shouted. "But they're stuck with the crowd in the mall, and the police are closing in.

"We need to get them out of there," Lorna stated.

Andy had an idea. "I could cause an earthquake," he told them. "A light one. It should distract the cops from their pursuit. I'm going to need to get inside the mall to do it, though. I have to be within the quake's radius to project it."

Lorna nodded reluctantly. "Fine," I'll keep the engine warm out here. But the second they recognise you, just run. With or without the others, understand?"

"Sure," nodded Andy. Lorna patted him on the back as he ran off into the mall.  
\-----  
The commotion inside the shopping complex was intense. People screamed and jostled with each other to get out.

"I thought the mutants were out there!" Andy heard a man shout. "Why are the police shooting us?"

"Maybe the mutants ARE the cops?" Shouted another.

"Aww hell no!" Came a third shout.

What the fuck is going on, Andy thought to himself. He soon saw a mob of business-suited people who he took to be representatives of Humanity Today. Some were wearing luminescent jackets. The senator Lucille Keogh was among them. Andy was trying to find the face of Boniface Luttrell.

"Andy!" A female voice shouted from his left side. He looked to find Reeva, Sophia and Phoebe. Andy struggled his way through the crowded bodies to them.

"What the hell happened out there?" Andy asked. 

"The police on the roofs start firing into the crowds," Phoebe told him.

"They were told to hit specific targets in the crowd in the belief they were Mutant assassins," added Sophia.

"Well, they seemed to have missed us then." Andy replied.

"I suspect that this is Luttrell's way of flushing us out." Reeva stated.

"Okay look," Andy told them, "I need to get in some place secluded and start an earthquake. That'll get everybody out. You can hide among the crowd as they exit the building."

"Do what you can," Reeva told Andy. He then ran inside one of the vacated shops, a clothing store, sat on the floor and caused the ground to shake below him.  
As Andy had hoped, the crowd outside was surging towards the exists.

Suddenly, gunfire sounded outside. Andy ceased the earthquake and spied outside behind the door. Several members of the HT party had been shot dead by the detail of policemen tasked with protecting them. Andy reckoned that the Frosts must have used their combined telepathy to take possession of their minds. And now, all those same policemen were killed by bodyguards of Senator Keogh before they too were gunned down. 

A woman staggered from among the dead and dying bodies. She was clutching her chest where blood seeped through her fingers. A man appeared some yards behind her, brandishing a gun.

"Well, Lucille, it's been wonderful working with you," he called out to the woman, who turned around. 

"Tim," she responded, "what the fu-?" The man shot her through the right eye. She dropped to the floor stone dead.

Andy remained quite still behind the door of the clothes store.

"Well, come on, Reeva! You got me. Get your banshee-shrieking bitch-ass out here, you fucking twat!" But there was no answer. Andy was sure she was gone.

"D'you have that boy, Reeva? That Stucker-kid or whatever that shit's name is? The one with the earthquakes? Real nice you brought him along. The Purifiers are going to looove him, Reeva!"

Andy crept out of the clothes store and stood behind the suit-wearing gunman. "Yo!"

The man spun around and was sent flying ten feet by Andy's shock wave before landing hard on the tiled floor. He yelped as he landed.

"Aaaaaahhh shit!" He groaned. "You just broke the tailbone, you little cunt!" He snapped.

Andy strode towards the gunman. "Boniface Luttrell, I presume."

Luttrell snickered. "Yeah, kid. You got me." He raised up his hands in mock submission. Then, Luttrell's eyes started to burn red. "Get you're little ass here, boy!"

There was a sudden silkiness to the tone of Luttrell's voice that was vaguely pleasing to Andy's mind, as if it persuaded him against all reason. The room turned to darkness from Andy's perception, and for some reason, his legs started walking toward the downed Mutant. Andy had no control over his body. 

Boniface clambered up. "Ah shit, I dropped my gun. Be a good sport and fetch it for me."

Suddenly, Andy's legs took him to to the gun that was eight feet away from Luttrell. 

"This is what it takes to control those cops outside," the smirking Luttrell barked at Andy. "The same goes for Humanity Today and those dumbass Purifiers."

Andy picked up the gun from the floor. He felt like a disembodied spirit observing the actions of his own body. "What the fuck are you-"

"Shut up boy!" Luttrell laughed at him. "Now, point the barrel to your head and pull the trigger for me."

Andy's hands shook as he was compelled against his own will. 

"Hurry now," Luttrell told him impatiently.

Andy pointed the barrel to his temple, but his index finger twitched lightly. Andy had virtually no control over his own actions, but he forced the less voluntary reactions under his control. The fingers of his other hand twitched. Reaching inside himself, Andy caused another earthquake which rumbled the mall. His free hand whipped forward, producing a small, incandescent ball. It was like a tiny sun that Andy produced from millions of molecules in the air. 

The burning ball hurtled through the air before it impacted against Luttrell's leg. The ball seemingly melted and set alight Luttrell's suit trousers.

Suddenly, the spell was lifted from Andy and he watched a screaming and panicked Boniface Luttrell rolling about the floor, frantically trying to get his pants off. It occurred to Andy that this Mutant was hiding in plain sight, pretending to be a human and working for Humanity Today under false pretences. A smile grew on Andy's lips as he recalled what he used to tell Lauren when they were little, during those times he caught her out in a lie: "Liar, liar. Pants on fire." Irony had never been more poetic than this, thought Andy.

Luttrell succeeded in removing his burning trousers. His legs and hands were singed in the process. He was panting as he stared up defiantly at Andy, who lifted the gun toward Luttrell's face. He pulled the trigger. Nothing. He pulled it several more times, but the clip was empty.

"Luttrell, injured and humiliated, managed a crooked smile. "Guess I used them all!" He chuckled.

"Andy?" 

The boy looked behind him to see Reeva and two of the Frost sisters. They were smirking at Luttrell. 

"What the hell happened here?"

"I thought you guys got out?" 

"We managed to get back in," Phoebe replied.

"There was nothing happening outside, so were figured this bozo was distracted," added Sophia.

Reeva smiled when she saw the smoking remnants of Luttrell's trousers. "Liar, pants on-"

"I know, right," Andy smirked.

Phoebe got out her phone and got the image on camera. "I couldn't have wished for a better scenario than this," she murmured as she clicked the image on her phone.

"Eat my dick," Luttrell snarled at them angrily.

Reeva turned to her companions. "Cover your ears, please!" She turned back to glare at Luttrell. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time."

Cupping her hands around her mouth, Reeva issued a piercing shriek and channelled it entirely at Boniface Luttrell. The impact caused a seizure inside his brain. It took thirty seconds to turn this defiant, treacherous, double-agent Mutant into a helpless, dribbling invalid.

When it was over, Reeva looked to her companions. "He'll spend his days in a mental home, strapped in a wheelchair, gazing out the window and soiling himself."

"A fate worse than death," smiled Sophia.

As disturbed though he was by Luttrell's fate, Andy made his own observation. "And a burnt dick." This elicited a laugh from Reeva, Phoebe and Sophia. 

They then departed from the deserted mall.  
\-----  
"So he's a dribbling idiot, now?" Asked Lorna.

Andy stood with her as they stood on the balcony at the Hellfire Club's headquarters.

"A dribbling idiot with cooked balls," Andy told her.

Lorna winced. "Jesus, I can't tell which is worse."

They went inside the building. "They'll just find someone else to lead them," muttered Lorna.

"We'll burn their asses too," Andy replied with a smirk.

"Oh, stop!" Lorna smiled.

They both sat on the couch and watched the CNN report on that night's events. Seven people attending the rally were reported as being shot dead by the police, due to the report that there were Mutant saboteurs at the rally. The suspected targets were found not to be Mutants, which has now mired the Philadelphia PD in a controversy.

"Esme says that Luttrell had the contact number of those cops who fired into the crowd," Andy told Lorna.

"Why would he have had their numbers for?" Nothing about this made sense to her.

"She said that he might have been engineering a disaster like this because he wanted to take over her leadership position." Andy told her. "I saw him shoot that senator in the face."

"Lucky thing we rained on his parade then," Lorna muttered. "Not that they'd thank us for it if they knew what we did for them."  
\-----  
After the day's events, Andy was in the bath. Within a couple of minutes, he drifted off to sleep.

Memories came and went for Andy.

"When was the last time I ever got to go out on a weekend?" Andy complained to Lauren. "It's like I'm a...," he paused. 

Fuck, Andy thought to himself, why can I never remember these things when I'm worked up? Are they veal? That can't be right! Dammit, I haven't been sleeping well lately. 

"...W-what do they call those baby cows they keep in the crates?" He asked Lauren.

"Veal?" She offered helpfully. 

Gee whizz, thanks Dr Lauren, Andy sarcastically thought. "Yeah," he said out loud, "I'm being raised like A veal!"

Lauren's eyes looked at her brother with sympathy. "You really want to go to a dance? After everything that's been going on at school?" She asked him, referring to his clique of bullies.

"You mean my fan club?" Andy replied bitterly. "Yeah, whatever I'm used to them." He sounded tired. Fuck Trevor, he thought for the millionth time.

"Well, Lauren said in surrender, "buckle up!"

Andy danced as he buckled in his seat belt. "Wait till we're there, you dork," Lauren grinned.

Good ol' Lauren, Andy thought with fondness.

Andy then found himself sitting in the assembly hall. The principal was droning on about some upcoming charity event. Images whizzed by. Then Andy was sitting in the school counsellors office.

"So Andy, I want to help you out, but you've been falling behind on your assignments and turning up late for classes for the past three weeks now. Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

"Umm..," Andy thought about the abuse he was getting in PE and in recess periods. He also thought about what may happen if he mentioned it now and how they might react to it later. Andy felt the walls closing in on him. That old feeling he had when he felt under pressure. He had to get out.

He was sitting in the pews of his local church. Caitlin, his mother, was a Methodist born and raised, and so raised her two children in the faith. Andy was never keen on God or religion. He didn't hate it, just indifferent. There he was, at age ten in his buttoned up shirt and his hair combed back. He sat between his mom and Lauren. The minister was giving a sermon on St Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians when, out of nowhere, the poor old man broke wind right there before the congregation. A long, wet fart. He looked mortified. Andy stifled a snicker, but his mother flashed him a stern look. Lauren gave him a hard nudge to his ribs. Happier times, he thought.

Andy was now in a crowded place. People dressed in long coats and hats around here. Andy noted how old-fashioned everything was here. Everyone spoke in a foreign language. Andy thought they were German. Walking the street, Andy saw a podium being erected. There was a Nazi flag draped over the front of it.

What the fuck! Where am I. Thoughts were racing through Andy's mind. Suddenly a hand grabbed his and pulled him through the crowd into some narrow alleyway. 

"Nimm mich!" The pretty blonde girl demanded. "Hier, eben." Not in control of himself, Andy's hands unbuttoned the top of the girl's blouse before he removed his peaked cap and pushed his face in between the girl's breasts. His actions were those of another person, and Andy was observing it through this person's eyes. The cute girl giggled sweetly. Andy felt his lips kiss her breasts repeatedly. The girl moaned with pleasure. "Bruder!" She whispered.

Bruder? Did she say BROTHER?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After more than three months training with the Hellfire Club, Andy Strucker wishes to do more research on his family history.

Despite what his sister thought of him, Andy would visit the school library a lot. Just that he did not hang out there. He did borrow tons of books. Not everything of interest could be found online. 

Lauren could be such a uptight, sanctimonious busybody that it was off-putting to her brother, who would often behave in such a crass manner until he did it out of habit, just so he could differentiate himself from his sibling. Sometimes, either of them would instigate a conflict just in order to communicate. Even the crack he made about "Muties" that one time at dinner, before he found out he was a Mutant, was just to bait Lauren's self-righteousness. If Andy was honest with himself, though, he was as sensitive and thoughtful behind his facade as his sister was out in the open. 

Once, Lauren caught Andy with a copy of the Iliad in his bedroom one night when she came to borrow something. Andy claimed it was part of his school assignment when it was really for pleasure. "Do you need any help with it," Lauren asked Andy, trying to be helpful. "No, get out!" Andy snapped, defaulting to his cultivated persona of being a dick. His sister rolled her eyes and left his bedroom.

There was a small library in the building and Andy had found they had a copy of The Merchant of Venice. He liked to read before bed. Andy was reading the scene where Shylock was preparing his knives for Antonio for allegedly defaulting on a loan when his phone buzzed for his attention on the table beside his bed. It was from Sage, she had uncovered classified files pertaining to Fenris. Andy, eager though he was, could not help feeling at unease upon finding out more about his great grandfather.  
\-----  
Andy put the key into his laptop and read the leaked documents concerning the Von Strucker twins. The boy steeled himself for the worst of it. For two hours, Andy read from files, eyewitness accounts, contemporary news articles. They all unanimously condemned Fenris. Descriptions of the killings of civilians were frequently reported. Extensive mention was made of Andreas' membership in the Hitler Youth and of his service as a commissioned officer in the Wehrmacht during the last two years of the war when Andreas was old enough for military service.

Andy's head swam with the information. He felt he had to rationalise what his great grandfather did. Thousands fought for the Nazi regime as conscripts, Andy recalled from history class. Yet, Andreas was a Hitler Youth member. One of many children indoctrinated. 

Did Andreas believe in any of that after Germany's defeat, wondered Andy. Did it even matter? He felt sick. He was aware that the Von Struckers were born in Germany in the 1920's, knew that they were lived in Germany at that time of Hitler's rule over the country, but he assumed that their connection with the Nazis was one of circumstance. They were still a leading force behind the liberation of Mutantkind. That had to count for something, right?

Andy turned off his laptop. He did not want to know more. Whatever kind of man his great grandfather truly was, Andy was determined to follow his own path. They could both agree on the simple premise that Mutants should not remain victims to those whom were afraid of them. If Hitler was a dog lover, Andy thought, it did not follow that dog lovers were Nazis by definition.  
\-----  
Everything was done to put Fenris out of Andy's mind.

Training in the underground vault had come in leaps and bounds. Andy mastered his fireball technique. Lorna, Esme and Reeva were impressed with its explosive power. In its own way, it made up for the lack of Fenris; the combined power of two Mutants born of the Von Strucker bloodline. It was like a mini nuclear explosion, though without the lingering radioactivity. It vaporised the objects it impacted. 

Andy would channel his ability to capture and combine hydrogen molecules, similar to how Lauren combined oxygen molecules to form barriers and shields. Andy caught the hydrogen molecules, then combined them into a single mass and hold it in place before it reached critical levels, whereupon Andy would release it towards his intended targets. The hydrogen mass would release an explosion of energy, destroying everything it touches.

By now, Reeva considered Andy's training to be complete, though it was ultimately a decision which belonged to the Inner Circle, who were yet to meet together at their Washington offices. It would be weeks before they arrived in the city.

"They run operations in other countries, Andy," Reeva told him. "The Hellfire Club has a long reach, which we need if we are to effect change in this world."

"I understand," Andy told her mildly. "There aren't any better places to prove myself than right here." That earned him a smile from Reeva.  
\------  
One afternoon, Andy was alone in the common room. There was a grand piano just sitting there, unused. Andy had not practised piano since he was eleven. Why did he quit in the first place? He then remembered that he bailed out on a recital because he had stage fright. His mother told him that he didn't have to practice if he did not want to, but he keenly sensed her disappointment.

But then, Andy always was a disappointment. Sometimes, he even disgusted himself. 

His family were upset about him leaving them for the Hellfire Club, but Andy thought that perhaps they must have been secretly relieved at his departure. All he did was infuriate them. Fight with them. Ruin their lives and make them outcasts: Dragging them down to his level! 

Lauren was not a afraid to be herself. She was the reliable child. The responsible one. They were better off without Andy. The least he could do to make up for all the heart ache was to fight for them. Even die for them.

Andy sighed. He stepped toward the piano. He sat down and idly tapped the B-sharp. Then plucked at a C-note. Am I still any good at this? Andy thought to himself. He tapped away idly while trying to remember the songs his mother made him play. What were they? 

Then Andy remembered one of his mother's favourite songs. He once took her by surprise when he played it for her out of the blue. He remembered how thrilled she was when he did it. The memory made Andy smile. 

He cracked his knuckles then started playing the song from his past: It was The Shape of Your Heart by Sting. Andy slowly played before he picked up the flow.

Andy then picked up the pace as he regained his feel and confidence. The tune of the piano echoed about the hallways. He did not hear the bare feet of Lorna, now heavily pregnant, padding across the floor, drawn by the sound of Andy playing.

Lorna stood at the entrance to the common room, one hand gently draped over her belly. She was dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt. Tears welled in her eyes as she watch Andy play the piano. Her heart fluttered with the rhythm. She was moved beyond anything. Forget Earthquakes, magnetism, exploding fireballs, telepathy and subsonic screams, thought Lorna; this boy had a real gift.

For Andy, the universe melted away. His crushing guilt forgotten. There was only the song. Every heartbeat, every breath, sight, smell and every thought. 

When he finished, Andy sensed Lorna lingering at the doorway. Suddenly, the boy felt awkward and self-conscious again.

"Oh, hey!" Was all Andy could manage.

Arms folded over her belly, Lorna padded toward him. "Andy....that was fucking beautiful," she smiled. She sat down beside him. "I didn't know you could play." She casually wiped away a tear.

Andy looked down at the keys, his face turning red. "I, uh..." His shyness would not go away. "I haven't played in years," he told her. "I didn't know if I could still do that."

Lorna's amazement lifted his spirits. She then started playing a song of her own. It was a long, sad melody. Andy chuckled. 

"Is that...is that the Incredible Hulk theme tune?" Andy grinned.

Lorna giggled. "You just got me in the mood for it now."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hellfire Club confront a Purifier Uprising in Virginia. Andy confronts an old face from his past.

A member of the Inner Circle visited the Washington D.C. HQ to personally interview the recently-recruited Mutant soldiers of the Hellfire Club. Andy was summoned to meet with him in the boardroom.

A tall, bald, smartly-dressed black man greeted Andy with cool civility. "Andrew Strucker! I've heard a lot of good things about you." 

Andy shook the man's proffered hand. "William Midas, great to meet you, sir." William flashed his pearly-white smile. William Midas was a senior member of the Inner Circle; the governing body inside the Hellfire Club. Midas had the ability to chemically transform anything he touched into gold, silver or diamonds by touch. Such an ability made him a very powerful man, perhaps even the true leader of the Inner Circle, though he modestly claimed to be a "first among equals", though Andy noted the Frost Sisters' naked contempt for Midas and the Inner Circle.

"Imagine how easier our jobs would be if these old fucks shuffled off their mortal coils," Andy once overheard Phoebe tell Reeva during breakfast. "We need to have them all here, first," came Reeva's cryptic reply. At least Andy thought she said that. It was noisy in the cafeteria.

William invited the youth to take a seat across the table from him. "I apologise we couldn't meet sooner," he gravely told Andy. "There were matters which demanded our attention overseas. I fear they had gotten out of hand. So," William digressed. "I heard how instrumental you were up in Vancouver and Philadelphia."

"I did what I needed to, sir." Andy replied respectfully, as Sophia had coached him. "Just kiss his ass, Andy," the blonde telepathic triplet told the boy bluntly. "Talk to him like he's the second coming of Christ. It's only right that you do. Within a year, he'll put up with your demands. For all his cash-conjuring tricks, he can't afford not to have you in the organisation."

"Well, you certainly did what you had to, especially for someone of your pedigree. I heard of the Von Struckers as a young man. Andreas and his sister were as demi-gods walking the earth. And I believe that one so gifted as you will prove worthy of the name."

Andy just nodded dumbly. He was somewhat uncomfortable being fawned over, but he did not want to make a bad first impression with the head honcho of the Hellfire Club. "I'll, um.." The stammer was subconsciously prompted. Andy had to finish the thought. "I'll put the fear of God in our enemies, sir!" What the fuck did I just say, thought Andy.

"I should think so, kid!" William laughed genially, though Andy felt foolish for speaking out of turn like that.

William stifled his chuckles. "Alright, so I understand that this may be a sensitive issue for you, Andrew, but I understand your sister, Lauren, was loathe to join us here at Hellfire."

Andy's face turned more sombre. "Lauren...she doesn't want to fight. She stayed with my Mom and Dad with the Underground. They don't even want to protect themselves. They just want to run and hide, hide and run. They just..." Andy stopped himself in mid-sentence. He had sounded angrier than he intended.

But William was sympathetic. "That is completely understandable," the Inner Circle-member told the boy reassuringly. "The Mutant Underground's passivity is only doing them and Mutantkind a disservice. We don't wish to destroy humanity, for we are their fellow creatures." William's voice then hardened. "But nor should we be forced to lurk in the shadows, or submit to second-class citizenship due to our birth.

William bade Andy to leave, but gave business card and his parting words. "Should you desire a change of scenery, Andrew, you can contact me at any time. I think we'll be needing you in the years ahead.  
\-------  
The following day, William Midas had departed the country. The Frosts made their feelings known about their glorious leader. 

"I hope he stays away another four months," Sophia exclaimed bitterly.

"I hope he crashes his learjet into his Cayman Island house," Phoebe countered.

In the boardroom, Reeva told the group about a large Purifier rally being held outside Lynchburg Virginia.

There are reported to be three thousand attendees of the event, according to police reports," Reeva stated. "The Mayor of Lynchburg has called off law enforcement from regulating the event."

"Which is fine by us," declared Esme.

Lorna and Andy discussed the Purifiers after the boardroom meeting.

"Wish I could come with you guys," Lorna told her younger friend. "Those fucks won't know what hit them."

"They'll know," Andy told her "I'll give them a whole exposition as I go through them like cholera in a nunnery."  
\-------  
Later, the Hellfire Club drove to the rally outside of Lynchburg. Reeva told her operatives to take positions around the encampment. When all was ready, Reeva issued a shrill whistling sound which signalled the Hellfire Mutants into action.

The Frosts used their combined telepathy to turn a group of partying humans into feral animals, and started biting and clawing at each other. Smiling, all three women strolled through the violence and chaos as if they were malevolent spirits.

Fade, in his invisible form, spilled about cans of gasoline about a mosh pit before flicking a lit match upon the spillage. His cruel, vengeful smile visible to no one but himself.

Mark, the huge, immensely strong mutant, found a bunch of Purifiers hurriedly arming themselves before lifting a car to crush them.

"Hey Strucker!" Andy turned about to see a hulking boy about two years older than him. In the low light of the ending day, Andy could not mistake seeing Trevor Maxwell. The boy's nostrils twitching at the sight of him. Andy spotted the taser in Trevor's hand. Andy reacted faster by sending a shock wave to upend Trevor. But an older man charged in behind Andy and knocked him hard to the ground. Andy clambered to his feet, but the old Purifier's boot connected sharpely with Andy's stomach, causing the boy to double over in pain.

Trevor, having recovered from Andy's attack, gazed down at his old high school victim with pure loathing.

"Fucking Mutie!" Trevor spat before pressing the taser gun into Andy's chest.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy goes APE-SHIT!

"Fucking Mutie!" Spat Trevor before firing the taser to Andy's chest. Electricity poured into his body. 

The ground shook underfoot. Trevor squeezed the trigger again, causing his former high school victim more pain, but the shaking had gotten more violent.

Using all his willpower, Andy sent a shock wave to throw Trevor eight feet away. The old Purifier whom knocked down Andy leaned down to grab the boy by the scalp. Andy brought up his white hot hand, which was capturing hydrogen molecules and slapped the Purifier across the face. The old man screamed as the flamed enveloped across half his face.

Breathing hoarsely, Andy removed the taser's electrode from his chest and tried to regain his footing. Trevor raced in and tackled Andy from behind. He lift the smaller, younger boy off the ground and suplexed Andy over his head. 

Andy landed hard on the ground. Trevor turned about and begun to stamp on Andy's stomach. The old Purifier, having smothered the flames on his face, got up and shoved Trevor out of the way."

"Fuck off", he snarled at Trevor while clutching the burnt side of his face, "this Mutie cunt is mine!"

"Hey, fuck you, Troy!" Trevor shouted at him. "He's an old friend from my old high school."

Troy sneered at Trevor. He produced a knife and knelt over Andy. Before he could slam the point of the blade into Andy's chest, the boy's fist snaked out and caught the wiry old man on the nose. Blood spurted from Troy's broken nose as he collapsed sideways from Andy.

Trevor smirked. "You got some Mutie balls on your Strucker," he told him before taking the knife in his own hand. He grinned at Andy. "Not that you're gonna use 'em, now."

But before he could do anything, Andy outstretched his hands and Trevor suddenly felt like he was in a vice-like grip. He stood immobile and helpless. Trevor beheld Andy's gaze.

Andy's eyes burned with cold fury. Trevor's eyes showed terror and panic.

Trevor felt his chest tremble. He screamed at the muscles pulled on his rib cage, tearing it open.

Troy, the old Purifier, regained his feet. But he gazed upon what was happening to Trevor and was paralysed with fear.

Sinews and ligaments unwound and snapped inside Trevor's body. The boy screamed in agony as Andy Strucker, the insecure, depressed teen he relished in abusing through high school, mercilessly split him apart from collarbone to groin.

The two halves of Trevor's body fell to the grass like a butchered carcass in a slaughterhouse.

Andy regained his feet and stared at Troy. With a furious swipe of his hand, the muscle and fat around Troy's body ripped apart and his entrails slivered to the ground like wet eels. Troy mumbled incoherently as he fell to his knees. He made to grab his insides, as though to put them back, but his consciousness deserted. The last thing he saw was the Mutant boy storming off across the field.

Andy stalked toward the packed crowd of Purifiers. His face was contorted in rage. Hatred shone in his eyes. Summoning up a surge of energy, Andy shot it out of his body like it was an cannon ball. He let out a feral scream as he did. The massive shock wave hit the unprepared crowd of Purifier men and women, slamming them to the ground or propelling them nay feet away.

Terrified screams and cries of agony were all Andy could hear. His fingers then sparked with captured hydrogen, which he slammed together to create a ball of incandescence. Those Purifiers witnessing it instinctively rose to their feet and ran for their lives.

Andy hurled the hydrogen ball, which seared through the clustered Purifiers. Those who were not incinerated in an instant were engulfed in flames as the huge burning ball screamed past them. 

Andy created small incandescent spheres before hurtling them off at his victims. One practically decapitated a Purifier by burning through his skull and leaving a charred lower jawline. Spheres would explode as they lost stability and engulf human beings. Minuscule supernovas lit up the evening, filling Andy's world with horrific screams and the stench of burning flesh and bone.

His blood racing Andy waved his hands over the ground. The wave of energy not only caused a small quake, but it lifted Andy off the ground and propelled him twelve feet forward. Andy landed deftly on his feet. 

Smiling savagely, Andy stared at the terrified crowd before summoning more death. Andy clutched hold of many different people at once. He remembered that night when his family fled from Sentinel Services in the parking complex in Atlanta. Fearing for his life, Andy used his power to tear apart six drones at once. That night, he had done it on pure instinct. Tonight, Andy would use it on whole groups of flesh and blood humans. The smell of charred flessh then gave way to blood and gore.

In the distance, Reeva Payge and the Frosts stood and watched, mesmerised and awestruck by the carnage wrought by the youngest member of the Hellfire Club.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The "Massacre of Lynchburg" hits the headlines.

The halls of the Hellfire Club HQ rang with raucous cheers as Mutants celebrated their triumph over the Purifiers in the fields outside Lynchburg Virginia.

Esme and Reeva led a euphoric Andy to the cafeteria. Lorna sat across the table from the boy. Despite the bruises and stitches on his face, he was smiling, but there was a glassy look in his eyes. Andy appeared to be in a waking dream. Andy was often plagued by fear, self-doubt, anger and melancholy between bouts of happiness. He was not himself.

The TV was switched on and news stations reported of a horrific massacre of Purifiers in Lynchburg.

Lorna flinched when she saw the raw footage played out of a Mutant boy throwing about fireballs and tearing people to shreds with telekinesis. It did not bother her one bit that the Purifiers were the victims, and accepted that she was at war with humanity whether she liked it or not. But Lorna blinked back her tears, knowing that she had helped Andy go down this path and now beheld the outcome of his lost innocence. 

Before Andy could imbibe one more glass of alcohol, Lorna walked around the table and lifted the boy by the arm. "Alright, young man," she told Andy in a jovial tone. "It's straight to be bed for you!" 

Andy laughed deliriously. He was slightly tipsy from the small amount of alcohol he had. This kid is not ready for any of this, Lorna thought. 

Esme and Reeva, drinking wine, smirked at Lorna. "Let the kid stay," Esme told Lorna, her speech slightly slurred from the booze. "He's earned it."

Lorna smiled politely. "He needs to be fresh for training in the morning." She shifted her gaze between Esme and Reeva. "You don't want to be sick for a day like last time, right?"

Esme locked her icy eyes with Lorna's, but Reeva just shrugged. "You're right," she told Lorna in resignation. "Help him to his room."

"G'night," Andy drawled. The two women smiled as they raised their glasses in salute.  
\------  
Lorna supported Andy on the way to his bedroom. When they got there, Lorna helped Andy undress until he was in his vest and boxers. She then helped the boy climb into bed and pulled the covers over him.

"I'll just let you sleep it off," she told. 

"Lorna.." Andy said softly. She looked down and took his fingers in hers. "I...I had to do it." He said firmly through cracked lips.

Lorna smiled as she nodded, tears stinging her eyes. "Yeah Andy," she agreed. And she did agree, whether she or him had liked it or not. 

This was the hand they were dealt. Andy was possessed by blood lust when he was fighting for his life. But Lorna knew these moments were fleeting, as they proved for her. She had regretted taking down the air plane even before she had done it. Innocents died in that plane along with Dr Roderick Campbell and Senator Matthew Montez. Her killing of the Purifier a few months ago was something she had later cried about in private. Andy reminded Lorna of herself.

"Never change!" She whispered to him before pressing her lips to his forehead. Lorna left the room to let Andy sleep. She quickly wiped at eyes, but saw Esme stand behind her.

The blonde telepathic triplet grinned in a tipsy sort of way. "You should be proud of him," Esme told Lorna. "Those worms were begging to to be found out there. They would have killed more of us." 

Lorna stepped forward and gazed into Esme's pale blue eyes. "Not all of us treat it like party, though." She told her acidly. "And how the fuck did he get those bruises and cuts on his face? Weren't you supposed to be looking out for him?" Lorna demanded.

Esme smiled winsomely. "Those Purifier never stood a chance," Esme bragged. "Andy killed them all on his own. So what if he got a bit banged up? The boy needs to be toughened up, not mollycoddled by you. You're not his mother, Lorna."

Lorna glared at Esme. "His Mom would want him to be safe," she snapped.

Esme giggled. "Caitlin sheltered her son. She made him soft. Tried to raise a tiger like a lamb. But Andy's different. He was never meant to live among boring suburbanites. Thanks to us, he got the chance to take on that dumb kid who bullied him in school."

Lorna's green eyes narrowed sharply, staring daggers at Esme. "So you mean to say that you did it on purpose, then?!"

Esme sipped her wine and gazed coolly back at Lorna. She patted the pregnant Mutant's belly, making her flinch. "You're carrying the future," she replied. "Try saving your energy for that. Andy is also the future, which is nearer to now, so be a good girl, Lorna, and let us take care of him. Okay?!"

Esme walked back to the party, leaving the dejected Lorna behind her.  
\---------  
More flashes and images assailed Andy. Images of his early childhood. He remembered swimming with a blonde girl just two years older than him. Her head bobbed above the water's surface. "Move your arms and kick with your legs," Lauren instructed her baby brother.

Two little, golden-haired, barefoot children ran across the lawn, giggling, then bounced on a trampoline and pretended to be X-Men. The little boy, did a front flip off the trampoline and landed deftly on to the lawn before running across the grass as his older sister chased him. Outpacing her, he jumped on to the trunk of a tree and shimmied up it before his sister could catch him. "I'm Nightcrawler, Arggh!" The boy shouted before digging his fingers and toes into the bark to climb up the tree.

The older girl petulantly stamped her foot on to the grass, not wanting to hurt herself by scraping her legs like last time when she tried to climb after her brother. "Mommy!" She yelled. "Andy's up the tree again."

Their mother, a pretty, statuesque blonde women in her mid to late twenties, skipped out of the house. She knew she should scold her son but could not help smile. He looked like Mowgli when he did that. She reached up to grab him. "You little monkey, come down here. That's it! 

"Yeah, you little Monkey," the seven year old girl screeched as she pointed at her five year old brother.

Caitlin grabbed Andy. The adorable boy laughed in her arms. Noticing the small scrapes on his legs from the tree bark, she planted a kiss on him. "I think there's still some Mr Men band aids left over from last time.

Little Lauren grabbed Andy's legs as the mother carried him and started tickling the boy's foot to teach him a lesson. "Stop running away from me," she pouted indignantly.

Stop running away from me! The words echoed through Andy's skull.

Sunlight childhood memories gave way to darker landscapes full of terrified and tortured screams. Charred limbs gave way to melted faces. 

Turning about, Andy saw the torn-in-half form of Trevor, who despite being still and corpse-white, had his eyes solidly on Andy's. The old malicious contempt and disdain for him lingered, undying, in his dead eyes. There was the slightest hint of a cruel smile etched on the dead boy's lips.

The night air burned hot around Andy, who turned to see a dark, tall, hooded, slender figure who was hurling in turn incandescent spheres and tremendous, reality-warping shock wave attacks at fleeing shadows.

The dark figure regarded Andy. It stared balefully at the boy before hurling it's own fireball at him.

Andy woke with a start. The boy panted as his mind re-adjusted to the real world from the subconscious horror show he just went through. His belly felt sour and the back of his brain pounded mercilessly. Andy took a shower. When he gazed into the steamed mirror, the boy made a prompt decision.

In four months, the Hellfire club had changed Andy. He had mastered more of his abilities and his self-confidence had taken on new heights. The deaths of Purifiers helped purge the feelings of self-doubt and insecurity from his mind.

Andy want to mark this occasion. He found it in a bottle of hair bleach.

Later, he joined Lorna, who was alone in the cafeteria. Andy smiled as Lorna, eating porridge, gazed up at him. The green-haired woman's lips cracked into a smile. The smile turned into helpless laughter. 

Andy was taken aback.

"Jesus, Andy," Lorna giggled. "What the hell do you look like?"

Andy frowned. "Maybe I should have used green dye, but people would mistake us for twins."

"And this is better?" Lorna asked incredulously. "You look like some Disney cartoon character."

Andy was dismayed. "Dude, whatever!" Lorna continued giggling as she pulled Andy towards her. "Hold on, Jack Frost, I'll make you breakfast."


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy takes a walk to clear his head, before taking a leap.

In the almost five months Andy had resided in Washington D.C. he had never left Hellfire HQ by himself. Now, he wanted to take in the city.

He took public transport. Surrounded by disgruntled adults and vapid teenagers, Andy kept to himself, casually observing the humans around him. They looked so strange to him now. He was never truly one of them, he now accepted. Andy did not know whether he was happy or saddened by that fact. He had often tried to fit in with the crowd when he was younger. And how Andy had tried, and often suffered for it! He understood now that it had all been folly. Andy was never going to be normal. It was for the best. 

But now knowing how different he was to the rest of humanity, Andy did no longer felt like some weird, loser kid: wolves need not feel inadequate in the presence of sheep.

Dressed in a leather jacket over a hoody, Andy visited the Smithsonian Institution. And then the Lincoln Memorial. Unlike many of the tourists he encountered, Andy did not bother with selfies. In part because he was estranged from his family, and partly because he had always thought selfie-taking to be cheesy and lame. Lauren loved her selfies, Andy knew.

Andy visited the downtown neighbourhoods of the city. Andy scaled the outside of an apartment block, using the balcony railings as handholds. He had climbed trees and staircases when he was small, though his parents had made him stop. He reached the top of an eight-storey block and sat alone, gazing about the city skyline. 

Since the attack in Lynchburg, there was something Andy had wanted to do. He stepped to the edge of the roof. He thought about all the terrible things he had done since joining Hellfire. All the people he had killed since he had known of his Mutant heritage. By now, his family would have seen the news and guessed that he may have had a role to play in it. Even if the Hellfire Club saved Mutantkind tomorrow, forced the governments of the world to sue for peace, Andy would not ever be with his family again. All that power he felt could not ever substitute for that. 

Andy looked up at the twilight before jumping off the building. He fell fast to the hard, grey concrete below. 

Suddenly, Andy thrust his hands downward. The force of his powers pushed on the ground and allowed him to levitate ten feet in the air before the fall could kill him.

Smiling, he lessened the pressure of his telekinesis and slowly descended to the pavement, landing on his feet. Andy noticed cracks in the pavement cause by his own power. The boy then struck down hard on the pavement, and the force of the impact propelled him above the ground like a human rocket. He then leapt back on to the roof of the very building he jumped from.

Andy jumped from the building a second time. This time he somersaulted from the roof before applying the same concussive force before his body hit the ground. Andy repeated the trick several times. He then ran up a wall, back flipped, and tapped the ground with his blast, propelling him higher, spinning backwards through the air before he landed, tucked and rolled along the ground. That was fun.

Later in the evening, Andy walked the streets of the lower-class Washington neighbourhood. In the distance, Andy heard familiar voices. As they drew closer, Andy flattened himself against the wall and peered around the edge. 

"I sure it was them in Lynchburg," the voice of an older woman stated. "We may have to accept that those Purifiers were killed by some of our old friends."

"I'm sure I don't want to find out," replied the voice of a younger girl. A voice Andy knew all too well. 

He saw the bodies of Lauren and Blink retreat across the thoroughfare before entering an apartment building. Andy jogged across the street and used his ability to propel himself on to the roof. He looked into the inner courtyard. And he saw the faces of Marcos, John, and Reed, his father.

Andy blinked back tears as he looked on the faces he had not seen in months.

"I did hear something," John "Thunderbird" Proudstar insisted. "It sounded like it came from outside in the street." Shrugging, Marcos "Eclipse" Diaz and Reed Strucker followed the super-strong Apache Marine Corps veteran out into the street. 

Looking down from the other edge of the roof, Andy saw that they were joined by Blink, Lauren and Caitlin, his mother. Andy held his emotions in check. There was just no way they would ever want to see them again. Turning on his heel, and blinking back tears, Andy ran across the roof and pushed down hard, propelling himself fifty feet over the neighbourhood.

John heard the loud 'crunch' sound on the roof and race up the step ladders on the side of the building. He listened for echoes. John gazed at the Struckers.

"Andy was just here!"  
\---------  
"How was he," Lorna was eager for details.

"He looked okay," Andy told her of Marcos. "He looked a bit stressed out, mind you. I heard Blink and Lauren talking about Lynchburg. They sounded like they were freaked out by it."

Lorna nodded sadly. And laid a hand on her womb. "I'm glad he's okay," Lorna replied simply, avoiding the subject of the Purifiers. The both expected that they would have to meet with the Mutant Underground soon, now that they were in the city.

Andy had also told Reeva about the presence of the Underground in Washington. "I expect they will have to be dealt with soon," she grimly stated. 

"'Dealt with'? They haven't done anything in months," Andy protested. "They'll just hide and fly under the radar as always."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Reeva told the boy. "They've been making contact with other cells, and they're all converging on D.C. We have to assume that they know what we're doing here." She placed a hand on Andy's shoulder. "Like it or not, you might have to fight your own family very soon."

Andy felt the old familiar feeling of the walls closing in on him. But he steeled himself. "Then I'm ready for them," the boy replied with steel in his voice. He may never have their love again, but nor will they have his capitulation.

Reeva smiled proudly at him. She decided the boy was ready for the wars ahead.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy discovers more details about his family history, and the dark intentions of his fellow Hellfire Club members.

Andy dived into the swimming pool on the second floor of Hellfire HQ. 

He liked to that at the end of his training sessions early in the day. He particularly like to cannon ball or use his ability to launch himself through the water like a torpedo. Lorna enjoyed it at first, but told Andy to give it a rest after being splashed by his mini-tsunami one time to many.

Today, Andy swam back and forth across the twenty-five meter swimming pool. Lauren taught him to swim when they were younger. She seemed to naturally float like an otter while, with his skinny little arms and legs, would jump into the water and sink like a stone. 

Lauren was patient with her little brother, encouraged him and taught him to paddle and to kick and glide through the water. Andy and his sister were so close when they were little. It filled Andy with guilt when he thought about her. 

He would never forget the look of utter devastation on her face that night when he left Mutant Underground, after she begged him to stay. He knew he had to leave them behind, his sister, mother and father. He had steeled himself against the reproaches, their disappointment and their tears. He forced himself to be cold to their pleas. 

Andy convinced himself that his family were better off without him in their lives, as he was better off fighting for them, even if they did hate him for it.

Andy cleared his brain of his family and regrets. He finished the final lap before surging out of the water to lean on the edge of the pool. Clearing the water from his eyes, Andy gazed upon a pair of lovely, well-manicured bare feet. Looking upward, Andy saw the sweetly-smiling face of one of the Frost sisters.

"Oh hi," Andy greeted her simply. He was about to leave the pool, but Esme/Phoebe/Sophie laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. Stay a moment, Andy." She told him. The Frost triplet dived into the pool beside Andy. 

"I hear you've been asking for journals and letters by your great grandfather," the Frost told him.

Andy shrugged. "Sage hasn't had much luck finding them. It seems they've never been publicised."

Esme, Sophie or Phoebe smiled. "You know, Andy, we could help you with that if you want."

Andy gazed at me. "How so?"

"We know about the weird dreams you've had when we helped you out."

"Do you guys just monitor everyone's dreams?" Andy asked incredulously. 

The Frost shrugged. "We can't help it, Andy. When we sleep, we pick up the echoes of other people's subconscious. We're kind of like radios picking up the signals from local stations. Only, we experience other's dreams, both good and bad." 

Andy thought about that. It worried him about how much they knew. Did they know about Andreas' love affair with his sister?

"And yes, Andy, we know what your great-grandfather got up to with his sister!" Frost stated out loud.

Andy's blood ran cold. He was not sure that he wanted to continue this conversation. "If it's all the same, I-I'm not sure I want to do this." He climbed out of the pool. "See ya," the boy called over his shoulder. He walked to the pool showers. He glanced behind him to see Frost staring intently at him.

Was she checking him out, Andy wondered. No, don't let her see that thought also.  
\-------  
Andy slept and found himself in one of those creepy ancestor-dreams once more. 

Andy found himself seeing through the eyes of his ancestor, sitting in a restaurant, whispering in gratuitous German to his sister, who just laughed. Andy had taken some lessons in German from one of the learning programs that Reeva left on his laptop. The boy shuddered in discomfort when Adreas whispered "Ich werde deine muschi lecken!" 

Why did he have to hear that shit? 

"Because it's another burden you have to bear, Andy?" Called out a female voice.

Andy looked about him. He was no longer trapped inside his perverted great-grandfather, though he was still in the restaurant. At one of the tables, three identical women with blonde hair, pale blue eyes and clear porcelain skin beamed their smiles as the boy.

Andy suddenly found himself sitting among the Frosts. "We know you did not want our help, but you definitely need it, Andy." Esme told him.

"Let's just take you out of here first," said Phoebe.

They were now standing in the corridors of Bell Vue High School. 

Someone's hand grabbed Andy's hair from behind and slammed his head into the locker. Collapsing to the floor, with blood trickling from his forehead, Trevor and a pair of kids laughed at Andy.

Esme leaned down to whisper to the injured boy. "Are you gonna keep taking shit from this loser?" She purred in his ear.

Andy climbed to his feet and ran up behind Trevor before knocking the larger boy to the ground. Filled with burning rage, Andy started pummelling the face of his long-time bully. Trevor's friends had suddenly vanished. As had Trevor's face dissolved into pulped bones, brains and blood.

"Why the fuck did you take me back here?" Andy screamed in fury at the Frosts, who continued to regard the boy with their usual patronising smiles. 

"All your talent. All your successes. And these insects still haunt you in your dreams." Phoebe told him.

"You need these shadows purged from your mind, Andy," added Sophie.

"And then you can confront your family's darkest secret head-on," Esme finished.

The Frosts took Andy to a hospital ward. Andrea Von Strucker lay in bed with a newborn child in her arms. Sitting on the bed beside her was Andreas. He lay a tender kiss on her forehead and stroked the baby's soft hair.

"Hast du einen namen für ihn?" Andreas asked his sister.

Andrea smiled sweetly. "Otto," she whispered gently.

Andreas took the newborn into his arms and kissed the infant before cradling the boy in his arms.

"Unser kleiner Otto!"

Andy, watching this ancient scene unfold, realised that he was seeing his own grandfather, Otto Strucker, who would one day suppress the X gene inside his own son, Reed Strucker, which would later manifest itself inside the Reed's own children.

Otto Strucker, crypto-mutant and Trask Industries alumni, was the fruit of Andreas and Andrea Von Strucker!

Andy felt dizzy from the terrible realisation. Esme put an arm around the boy. The hospital ward room de-materialised around them. 

"For what it's worth, Andy," she told him, "the royalty of old would marry their relatives as they could not sully their bloodlines with that of common stock."

The triplets smiled pleasingly at them, but Andy felt weak and nauseous. 

"Humanity rejects us," Phoebe stated. "And it's just as well that they should," said Sophie. "Mutantkind and humanity were never meant to live together." Said Esme. "I dare say that even other Mutants are....lesser. Unfit. Mediocre." 

The Frosts started rubbing Andy's back and shoulders. Esme laid her hands on the boy's face, gently caressing him. "You were quite a find, Andy, and you have become our strongest champion in our war against the humans."

"My mother, she's..." Andy started before Esme shushed him..

"Your mother's human, yes, and she's very sweet and loving. But we cannot have the glorious Von Strucker legacy mixing with that of banal humanity." She smiled. "I think the name 'Frost-Strucker sounds like a good name, don't you?"

Try as he might, Andy could not wake up. Nor could he tear himself away from the Frosts. Esme-Phoebe-Sophie then combined into one person and leaned in to kiss Andy on the lips.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy delivers a stinging blow to Trask Industries.

Reeva dispatched Andy and Esme on a mission in New York City. There, they had to locate a Trask Industries research facility which held a number of captive Mutant. Reeva told them that the Mutants were being trained as part of the Hound Program, and some of them were so hopelessly inured to the "Kick" drug that was used to keep them docile that they may have to be eliminated.#

"I don't like it either," Reeva had told Andy. "But I'm sure you understand that we save everyone. They have no choice to behave in the way they've been conditioned. Nether do we!"

Esme and Andy had landed in New York and drove to the location of the research facility. Esme had suppressed Andy's memories from the previous night. The boy felt uneasy around her, but Esme was patient.

"So, we're going to allow ourselves to be taken by their security," she told Andy as she drove them to the facility. "We're going to be brought in to the research building. Remember, we need to erase their research before you tear that building to the ground."

Andy nodded. "After we've dealt with security, we'll open up the cells."

"Don't get your hopes up that they'll want to follow us out, though," Esme warned him.

They parked the vehicle several blocks outside the TI complex. Walking to the checkpoint, Esme called jovially to the on-duty guard.

"Hey buddy, can you let us in? We gotta visit my mom!"

"This facility is off limits to the public," the guard shouted. 

Andy produced a small fireball between his fingers and cast it towards the checkpoint shelter. The flames quickly spread. The guard radioed for back-up while drawing his sidearm. "Do not fucking move," he roared as Esme and Andy, who submitted to his capture.  
\------  
Andy and Esme were both screened and identified as possessing the X gene. They were both stripped of their clothes, forced into orange jumpsuits and shock-collars to punish them when they used their abilities. 

They were both forced into adjoining cells. Barefoot and cold, Esme and Andy waited for the research faculty to summon them for testing.

"They'll ask for you first," Esme told him. "You'll have one shot before the collar takes its toll on you."

The boy nodded. "After I've taken them out, I'll open the cell from there. Security should be coming in from all sides. Avoid them and find some of the inmates."

Esme smiled as she nodded in agreement. 

Two hours after their capture, the guards entered Andy's cell, pulled him to his feet and dragged the boy through the corridors.

Without warning one of the guards clubbed Andy between the shoulders with a nightstick. He fell to the ground. The bald-headed security guard leered at the boy. "Just so you know," he told him spitefully, "we know what you're planning. And it ain't gonna work." He stepped his heavy-booted soles on Andy's slender toes. The boy winced from the guard's abuse. 

He then grabbed Andy by a hank of his hair before marching him through the concrete courtyard and into the research building.

The lab-coated technicians and geneticists looked upon Andy like some dog. He was dragged by his collar to the table where two of the guards lifted the slender boy on the table and forced his hands and feet through leather straps and fastened them into place.

A short, Asian scientist leered at Andy as he lay helpless before him. "It's kind of you and your companion to just hand yourselves in like this," he told him. "Quite a gift indeed! Whatever you two are planning -" he wagged his finger. "-Not gonna work!"

The scientist produced a small chain with a bicycle-lock from his trouser pocket. "Oh, by the way, I'm Dr Winston Jeong." He then swung the bike lock hard on Andy's bare feet. It struck his left sole hard. Andy gasped in pain. The sharp edges of the bike lock left a deep gouge on Andy's heel. 

Smirking unpleasantly, Jeong struck Andy's other heel. "So don't do anything stupid!" Jeong hissed at the boy.

Andy was determined to stick to the plan. He knew that they had to turn off his shock-collar before they could administer their tests.

"I need to begin the trial," Jeong told his assistants. "Turn down the collar."

Andy heard a click around his neck. He eyed the guards and scientists maliciously. The bald-headed guard picked up on Andy's gaze. 

"Giving us the stink eye, Mutie?"

The room started to shake violently. Dr Jeong glanced from the monitor to Andy. "It's him!" He then looked to the guard. "Cole, knock him out!"

Cole, the bald-headed guard lifted his baton to strike at Andy's head, but the boy's telekinesis pulled him back and slammed the guard into the wall. All around, circuitry overheated and burst, sparks flashing and glass windows shattered.

One of the technicians got a syringe full of sedative to render the boy unconscious, but Andy lifted her up and slammed her on the floor.

The straps around Andy's wrists and ankles shredded themselves and he ripped himself loose from his bonds.

Dr jeong and his assistants panicked and ran out of the room. Andy stopped shaking the building and went to the monitors. He saw the security cams inside the cells of the various mutant inmates, including the one containing Esme. Andy used the laptop to automatically unlock all the cells. Esme got the hint and left hers immediately. 

An alarm went off around the complex. Andy used the skills Sage taught him in accessing files. He then deleted all of their new research. Everything of relevance he could find. 

Andy set off yet more tremors. He limped on bruised bare feet over shattered glass. Cole and the female technician were both unconscious from his attack. His powers caused the research centre to lose its structural stability.

Andy exited from the front entrance of the building to be greeted by a squad of security, who trained their guns on him.

Andy just stared at them. Unflinching.

The guards opened fire. Their aims dead on target.

Andy casually lifted his hand and sent a small wave which shattered the structure of the bullets speeding towards him, causing them to dissolve into fine dust in mid-flight.

Lauren had her impenetrable shields; but projectiles would not touch Andy.

Glancing at the guards, Andy threw them all back far across the courtyard. They landed with bone-crunching force. 

Andy turned about and looked at the research lab which he tore apart with his telekinesis. The building shuddered and collapsed into slabs of pounded concrete and steel girders. Andy tore the shock collar from his neck when he melted the lock with his captured hydrogen, which glowed at the tips of his fingers. The collar was on a lower setting, but it sent sharp shock through his nervous system.

It started to rain outdoors. Andy walked stiffly yet confidently across the slick concrete ground which soaked and chilled his bruised feet. He entered the holding cells to find Esme.

A large, black guardsmen saw Andy approach him through the corridors. "On the ground!" He shouted at the boy. But Andy propelled him through the corridor and slammed him against the wall.

Eventually, Andy found Esme with a band of Mutants she had freed. "They tell me the Hounds have been shipped out on loan to law-enforcement." Esme told him. "Have you destroyed the files?" She asked Andy.

He nodded. "They're gone."

The groups walked out through the front entrance. But then, police squad cars arrived to greet their departure.

Esme looked apprehensively at Andy.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Legend of The Wolf is born!

The police squad cars pulled against the gateway into the Trask Industries complex. Officers pulled out of their vehicles and trained their weapons on the band of mutants standing inside the entrance.

"On the ground! Get down on the ground!" One of the officers shouted at the group.

Having endured unspeakable tortures and starvation, the panicking mutants ran towards the gate in blind terror. Andy and Esme tried to stop them, but the mutants were running at the gate. The police fired indiscriminately into the group. Bullets tore into flesh and several dozen of the captive mutants lay twitching and dying in their blood. It started to rain more heavily.

Esme, drenched from head to toe and chilled to the bone, instinctively knelt on the concrete, knowing that this encounter was lost before it happened.

Andy stood in the rain. His eyes filled with remorse for the mutants being shot to death in front of him.

"Andy," hissed Esme.

The boy was death to her. The pain in his eyes quickly curdled into rage. Without regard for his own safety, Andy walked barefoot towards the squad of NYPD officers.

They saw the boy's jumpsuit, knowing him for a mutant like the other inmates. "Fire" shouted the sergeant leading the group, but Andy raised his hands, which caused the squad cars to flip over and and crush several officers to death.

There were seven such officers standing in the open against this mutant boy. "Call back up!" One of the officers shouted. It was the sergeant. A flick of Andy's wrist cleaved the man's torso in half from shoulder to hip. The dying officer flopped messily to the ground.

Esme, kneeling on the wet concrete, drenched from the freezing rain, looked on in awe.

The remaining officers emptied their clips in Andy's direction but the ground shook as Andy used his power to tear apart the bullets screaming towards him. Then he summoned a large sphere of burning hydrogen before he hurled at the officer, burning them alive. 

The rest of the mutants were dead, except for his companion Esme, who rose gingerly from the ground. She caught Andy's eyes, which were icy and dauntless. Esme found Andy intimidating. It thrilled her.

Without a word, the pair made it back to the car and drove to Hellfire's safehouse in the city.  
\------  
As they were driving, Esme and Andy noticed a surveillance drone whizzing through the air in the side view mirror.

"They're going to follow us to the safehouse," muttered Andy before he rolled down the window and caught the drone in the grip of his telekinesis. 

Esme saw the flashing the lights of a slew of police vehicles in the rear view mirror. "They're already on us," she cried out to Andy. 

Andy flicked his gazed behind the car to behold the police following their care. The boy then hurled the surveillance drone toward the police van taking point. The drone smashed through the windshield, causing vehicle to spin out of control and get ploughed by the van immediately behind it. Falling sideways, the van blocked the pursuit of the car of the absconding mutants.

Esme grinned happily at the chaos behind them. But then, her smile melted when she saw the roadblock ahead of her.

"Keep driving," Andy told her as he stared intently at the roadblock.

"Andy, we can't.." began Esme before she was cut off.

"Just do it!" He told her harshly. "Faster."

Esme's bare foot pressed the pedal harder, sending the minivan speeding at the roadblock ahead of them.

Andy leaned out the window, sliding half his body out to sit on the side door window, and extended out his hand, pushing several squad cars, rolling away before Esme's minivan sped past them.

Esme screamed as bullets impacted the rear window. Andy calmly tore the bullets before they impacted him.

But one bullet punctured one of the rearward tyres, causing the minivan to veer sideways and crash headlong into the entrance of an office building. Andy slid into the vehicle in time before he could be crushed against the door frame. They ploughed through the lobby. The minivan drove through several desks before impacting against the wall. 

Esme and Andy raised themselves from the deployed airbags. The two fugitives then crawled out of the vehicle amidst shattered window panes. Andy took Esme by the hand and led her up the escalator as the sound of boots running on concrete and the shouts of police got louder as they approached the building.

Poor Esme felt useless without her sisters to work in concert with. The soles of her feet felt shredded from hard tarmac and the cuts of shattered glass. The police were never supposed to find them, as Trask Industries had of late become very reluctant to collaborate with law enforcement. Perhaps someone there had lost their nerve, she pondered. It was all down to Andy to keep the telepath safe.

Andy sent a massive shock wave to collapse the front facade of the building to obstruct the NYPD from further entry.

He picked up a pad from the wall that contained the building's floor plan. "Back entrance!" He snapped at Esme, who followed the boy closely. They both ran down another escalator on bruised and bleeding feet, trailing small patches of blood behind them. Esme stumbled and slipped on her bleeding heel, but Andy caught her.

As they neared the entrance, they found to their joint dismay that more police SWAT members were headed for them.

Andy gave a feral scream, which was itself enhanced by tremors caused by his gifts, as he sent a white hot hydrogen orb towards the front entrance. It exploded on impact and engulfed some of the SWAT team. Their screams of fear and agony all but deafened by the explosion.

Esme was in severe pain from the cuts on her feet. She grunted as she fell to her knees. But Andy, a head taller then the young woman, summoned the strength to lift her in his arms and carry her back up the escalator, despite the added weight causing more pain for his feet. 

More glass shattered as Sentinel drones smashed their way into the building. Sentinel Services had finally joined the hunt for the mutants. 

The robotic drones appeared through the windows of the second floor. Andy ran with Esme in his arms toward an elevator door and hurriedly clicked the button.

A drone came close to catching them. Esme screamed and Andy used one hand to direct his telekinesis to tear it apart.

The elevator door finally opened. The mutants rushed inside. The hurting Esme had to be half dragged inside. She collapsed to the floor as Andy pressed the elevator into taking them to the top floor in the building.

The stress of the situation was getting on top of Esme, who was accustomed to being on control of the situation. Andy heard her sobbing, crouched low and hugged the pretty young telepath against him.

"Listen," Andy told Esme. "There's a way out of this." He forced her to look at him. "You need to trust me," he demanded. "Do you trust me?"

She sniffed but stifled her tears, nodding just as forcefully.

The elevator made it to the top floor and the mutants, following the course of the office building's floor plan, found a stairwell leading to roof of the building.

However, more sentinel drones burst into the top floor windows.

Esme's face was awash with dispair, but Andy thrust her to the carpet floor and aggressively tore them apart several at a time. One drone got close enough to knock the boy off his feet. It pounced on Andy to trap him beneath it.

Looking over, Esme saw Andy's scarred feet kicking beneath the vast, multi-armed machine as stood over the boy. She then rolled away as it exploded outward into hundreds of shards of scorched metal. 

Esme crawled to Andy to check on him but he climbed to his feet. Andy pulled her up and put her arm over his shoulder. He helped Esme up the stairwell to the roof. 

Water from outside pooled around their toes, then flowed down the stairs in a rush as Andy pushed the door open. 

They wandered on to the roof of the office block. The downpour was extreme. Andy looked up at the sky to see several helicopters hovering overhead.

Drones leapt up from the edges of the building in dauntless, mechanical pursuit of the mutants. Esme felt weak at her knees. But Andy turned to face her and placed his hands on the woman's shoulders.

Andy asked Esme one more time. "Are you sure you trust me?" He said her, deadly serious.

Despite her heaving sobs, Esme looked the boy dead in the eye. "Do you trust yourself?"

Andy managed a smile. "I do now!" He said, his voice deep with conviction. Andy never felt so sure of himself in his entire life. Everything in his life had led to this moment. "Hold on to me!"

Esme clutched her arms tightly around Andy.

The boy closed his eyes, took a deep breath before exhaling. Opening his palms to the ground. He sent a fierce shock wave blast. Both Andy and Esme felt like dynamite exploded beneath them. And it sent them both hurtling towards the night sky.

Esme whimpered as she buried her face in Andy's chest. He looked up as the rain obscured his vision, but kept it fixed on the helicopter he was fast approaching.

Far beneath them, the roof of the office building sundered, due to Andy's shock wave, and collapsed in on itself. Fractures grew across the substructure and the building tumbled down.

Rainwater seared against their skin. Andy's telekinesis dragged on the molecules in the air, clustering them together so as to enhance friction around him and slow both his and Esme's ascent into the sky. The helicopter above them grew every closer. Andy smiled when he saw it was a news station-hired chopper.

Esme's eyes grew as big as saucers when she saw the rotating blades of the helicopter. She knew in that moment that Andy and her would be butchered into offal. She closed her eyes tightly. Accepting her fate. "I love you." She whispered faintly as she pressed her face against Andy's chest.

Andy dragged on the air as he rose above it. He remembered them all; Lauren, Mom, Dad, Lorna. Everyone whom truly mattered to him. He remembered the best and the worst moments in his life. He thought of his shame and released it. Time slowed down for Andy. 

The chopper edged nearer. Andy gazed serenely at it. It no longer felt freezing and wet on his skin. The blood pumping his ears at vanished. Nothing but peace. A contented smile appeared on the boy's lips. He casually reached his hand out at the approaching copter as though he was reaching for the door handle.

Andy's hand snaked out and grasped the edge of the chopper's side door and used his remaining upward momentum to pull himself and Esme inside. Coming in, they knocked down a camera man, sending him sprawling to the floor. With him was the helicopter pilot and a news reporter.

"Holy Mother of God!" The reporter screamed in shock at the two people in orange jumpsuits, who both looked like drown rats, appeared in the vehicle with them.

Andy's eyes beheld the reporter and pilot. They did not possess any hint of fear or hesitation. "You will fly the chopper where we tell you," he stated flatly, as though it was a prediction.

Esme, despite her shock of flying with Andy and coming so close to death, recovered her composure in the eyes of the humans. "Do as he says," she commanded.

"Who the fuck are you!" Barked the pilot from his seat. 

Unflinchingly, Andy regarded the man. "A wolf among sheep!" He declared coldly. Esme glanced up at Andy before looking again at the humans. A faint trace of her normal mischievous smile spread across her lips.

"Take the chopper to North Hills," Andy ordered the pilot.

"What if I don't?" The pilot stupidly demanded of the two people who just flew into his helicopter.

Andy raised a hand and produced a cluster of hydrogen molecules which grew into a small but blazing orb. The pilot, reporter and cameraman gazed in horror at Andy.

"You heard him," Esme snarled at these idiots. "North Hills, now!"

Outside, the helicopter lurched sideways as the pilot hurried to obey the mutant interlopers.  
\-----

Reeva, Lorna, Sage, Phoebe and Sophia Frost, along with some other Hellfire mutants, arrived at the safehouse in North Hills, New York, Reeva had a briefing with Esme and Andy before allowing them to recover from their injuries.

Lorna was in the living room, applying disinfectant cream to Andy's ravaged heels. "I thought Campbell was sadistic," she grumbled. "What did you say his name was?" 

Andy flexed his toes. They still felt raw from the chase. "Winston...Jeong, I think? He got out of dodge real fast. Whatever, though! I''ll fuck him up if I find him again."

"Now-now," Lorna chided him gently as she rubbed his foot. "you already have half of New York talking about you." News was rife about an unidentified, airborne mutant whom appeared inside a helicopter. Andy's and Esme's faces were not caught on camera, but their exchange with the reporter and pilot were heard over the audio. "A wolf among sheep" was now appearing in the headlines. The media and the public were talking about "The Wolf" like he was the stuff of nightmares.

"You're infamous now, and all before your eighteenth birthday, Wolf!" Lorna chuckled. 

Andy cringed. He regretted saying that. "It was just something I said to scare the shit out of them."

Lorna smiled. "And now everybody's scared shitless of you. You're a motherfucking legend, Andy Strucker."

The boy, sitting on the couch against the cushions blushed at her words. Lorna slid up and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "And after all you've been through," she continued, sounding more serious, "It's the least you deserve. You've suffered enough, kid!" She laid a tender kiss on Andy's temple.

Andy hugged his best friend fondly. He knew he would have to suffer yet more to keep Lorna and her child safe. But no longer would it be done in silence, thought Andy.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

End


End file.
